Sakura Hebi No Me Vrs2
by TransientFireworks
Summary: What if Sakura had been the main character in Naruto? What if she had a rough life as well? What if she had a special connection with a certain snake sannin? What if she hated Sasuke? The Naruto story retold! A/N: This is my previous story "Sakura Hebi No Me" but a better and rewritten version! :)
1. Prologue: The Eye Of The Snake

**Honestly****, this prologue didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it too, but I'm writing out the next chapter right now. :) **

**Thank you everyone who's stuck to this story for so long and I really hope you enjoy the re-written version. The main story line is going to be the same, I didn't change that. All I'm changing is the some of the plot and what happens in the chapters. **

**Anyway, enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

The sound of a baby's cry filled the hospital air.

Said baby was wrapped up in a soft-pink blanket as the nurses gently passed the child onto its mother's arms. The woman lifted her exhausted arms and wrapped them around her newborn child. Tears cascaded down the mother's cheeks as her baby's cries died out upon seeing its mother.

"Congratulations," the doctor who performed the procedure announced. "It's a healthy baby girl."

"Well done," a nurse commented beside her. The mother continued to stare in awe at her new daughter.

"Thank you," the women replied, refusing to take her eyes off the baby.

"What are you going to name her?" one nurse curiously asked.

"Sakura," the mother whispered, recalling the name someone had once suggested to her. She then smiled happily at all the nurses and doctors present in the room. "Her name is Sakura. Sakura Haruno."

"I think that's a beautiful name," the doctor commented. Sakura's mother smiled warmly at the doctor then began rocking her baby back and forth in her arms. Everyone in the room decided to leave the women alone to have a moment with her baby.

Sakura yawned as her mother began caressing her cheek. She then snuggled into the warm hospital blanket. The mother continued rocking her baby in her arms as she began to hum a soft melody to her daughter. Her voice soothed Sakura as she began to fall into a blissful sleep.

Her mother's voice intoxicated the air around the room as the cool night breeze suddenly blew through the opened window.

The mother noticed this and stopped humming. She averted her gaze to the opened window and was suddenly enveloped with a sense of fear. _That window wasn't opened before_, she thought worriedly to herself.

A sickening laugh entered the women's ears as she froze in place. She didn't want to know what was awaiting her but her body unconditionally turned towards the source of the laugh.

Her eyes widened.

"Hello, Hana," the man said menacingly. "It's nice to see you again."

Hana's body began to shack with fear. Not fear for herself though, but fear for her daughter. She protectively cradled Sakura tighter in her arms. The man noticed this action and averted his snake-like gaze to Sakura's sleeping form.

In the moment in took Hana to blink her arms were suddenly cold and empty.

"No!" She shouted. "Give her back! Give me my baby back!"

"Your baby?" The man questioned as he held Sakura in his arms. He lifted his hand and began stroking her cheek. Hana continued to cry out but the man ignored her pointless pleas. "My dear, sweet Hana…don't you mean our baby…"

"NO! I don't want you to have anything to do with her Orochimaru!" Pure hatred was laced with every word Hana spoke. But Orochimaru just chuckled sadistically.

"Well that's not really your decision to make, now is it?"

At this point Sakura had woken up due to her mother's screams. She stared up her _father's_ face and Orochimaru lifted his finger in-front of it. Sakura wrapped her tiny, fragile hand around his finger and began playing with it.

Hana froze with tears rolling down her cheeks, desperate to know what he will do next. Her new born daughter's life was hanging by a thin thread with each passing second.

"She has your eyes…," Orochimaru whispered.

Hana continued to remain silent.

"Why did you keep this secret from me?" He continued. "Didn't you want to be parents together? Raising this beautiful child…"

"Don't lie Orochimaru," Hana finally said. "I know you don't really care about her. You'll use her for your own personal gain. But I won't let that happen! I won't let you ever go near her ever again!"

At this point Hana was yelling once again, but Orochimaru was still unfazed. He continued to gaze at Sakura. Finally, he averted his eyes back to the mother of his child and began taking deliberate steps towards her. Hana's heart pounded hard against her chest as sweat beaded down her forehead.

He came to a halt right beside the bed Hana laid on and began to leisurely bend forward until Hana and his face were only inches apart. She wanted to scream and push him away, but she couldn't seem to find the courage to do either.

"It's so tragic isn't it…," Orochimaru breathed against her lips.

"What is?"

He was silent for a long moment before replying. "That our beloved daughter is going to live the rest of her life…without a mother…"

Hana's breath caught in her throat as Orochimaru swiftly pulled a kunai out of his pouch and sliced it. Blood spurted out of the flesh being exposed out of Hana's neck as the white bed sheets began to transform into a crimson-red. Sakura stared at the scene being taken place as a few drops of her mother's blood settled on her cheeks.

A tear slid down Hana's cheek. She was going to die. She knew it too. It took every ounce of energy she had left to avert her gaze to Sakura.

Her daughter.

Her beautiful baby girl who she only she for a few short minutes.

_I'm sorry…_, was Hana's last thought as her eyes slowly turned dull and lifeless. Orochimaru's sickening laugh discharged around the room as Sakura began to whimper.

Orochimaru was prepared to make his escape when a kunai suddenly flew past him in a swift movement and nicked his cheek, drawing a line of blood. He turned around, suddenly engaged in a battle with an ANBU Black Op. The ANBU had hair as silver as the moon and a mask that had the face of a dog sheltering his identity.

"Place the girl down on the ground," The ANBU ordered. Orochimaru just stared blankly at him.

"Now!" There was a killing intent in his tone. Orochimaru only smirked at this but obligated. He gently place Sakura down on the ground and slowly began taking steps back.

"Don't worry," Orochimaru said. "I'll be back."

With one last glance at Sakura he disappeared into a puff of smoke. The ANBU quickly ran into the smoke but found that Orochimaru had disappeared.

He was gone.

The ANBU turned his head to stare at the lifeless form that was once Hana. It seemed like he was looking at her for years before he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knees and realized that his legs had given out.

He was too late.

_She was dead._

His mask fell to the floor with a light thud and the room's image suddenly began to grow fuzzy. He took a sharp intake of breath as his tear-stained face dropped into his hands. His shoulders shook with every breath.

_Again_.

No matter how hard he tried everyone around just kept _dying_.

_Again and again!_

"Damn it," He whispered, nails clawing harder and harder into his face. A strange sound kept trying to catch his attention and it took a moment for him to look up, suddenly remembering the child that lay crying on the floor.

He cringed as he walked over to her, seeing that the baby sat right atop of a pool of blood. He hesitated before lifting the bundle into his arms. Her cries slowly died down, as if she knew she was safe. He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers.

Green.

_Just like Hana's._

The grief began to surface once again and he clenched the baby tighter into his arms, looking for some kind of warmth in this sad moment.

"I'm sorry…," he choked out in a whisper. "I-I couldn't save her…I'm sorry…"

He spoke those words until footsteps were suddenly heard racing down the hall and the rest of his ANBU team rushed in. They took one look at the scene and knew that they had taken too long to get here. The ANBU with the mask of a cat walked up with slumped shoulders and removed his mask. A sigh passed through his lips before he spoke.

"Kakashi-san," he said slowly, trying to choose his words carefully. "What shall we do with the child?" Kakashi only took a second to wipe away any trace of tears from his face and adopted a look of seriousness. "If I'm correct, you were appointed her Godfather."

"It was…never written on paper," Kakashi replied. "But I think it's best if she lived at the Hokage's tower where she'd have better protection."

The ANBU beside him sighed tiredly. "Two orphans in only two months…the fucks going on here? All of hell seems to be broken loose."

Kakashi silently agreed and glanced at the sleeping orphan in his arms. He didn't admit it out load but he was scared.

Scared for her.

Scared for Hana.

Just…_scared_.

"Don't worry," he breathed, "I'll be here for you…even if she isn't."


	2. Chapter 1: Gotta Pass The Exam

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

I let out a big sigh and gave my head permission to painfully drop onto the textbook that lay in front of me. My legs began to feel numb from sitting on them for so long so I adjusted them into a cross-legged position.

Two weeks. All spent doing nothing but studying for my final exam at the Academy that will determine whether or not I'm ready to become a ninja. It's supposed to be random and anything could be asked of us so I've been stuffing my brain with facts and practicing basic hand seals.

I was ready to head to bed when there was a knock on my door.

"I'm coming!" My voice rang out through the tiny apartment as I made my way to the door. There are only a few people I can actually think of who visits me. "Who is it?"

"Iruka-sensai," a muffled voice from the other side answered. I was definitely surprised by his visit but quickly opened the door. Awaiting me on the other side was my academy teacher, Iruka Umino. He was dressed in his usual Chūnin flak jacket and the distinctive scar across his face was always the first thing I notice whenever I saw him.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late Sakura," he apologized. That's Iruka for you: polite as always.

"It's alright," I replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, quite the opposite actually. The Hokage has requested that I go door-to-door to remind the students that your graduation exams will be held tomorrow."

"Thanks for the reminder. No need to worry though, I think I'll do just fine." Iruka smiled at me with pride and admiration and opened his mouth to say something when a sudden puff of smoke appeared beside him. Curiously, I watched as it cleared to reveal a man with dark-brown hair and the same Chūnin vest on as Iruka.

"Iruka-san," he said. "The Sandaime has ordered your presence at the Hokage monuments immediately."

"What is it this time?" Iruka asked. His expression suddenly turned into one of annoyance. "Don't tell me. It's Naruto again, isn't it?"

_Why did I know that name would come up? _

I resisted the urge to face-palm myself and made a quick reminder to interrogate Naruto-baka later.

"I'm afraid so," the other Chūnin replied, causing Iruka to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. He then turned and faced me.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow Sakura. Sorry I had to leave so suddenly."

"Don't worry about." I waved his words away.

He gave me one last nod before disappearing into smoke, along with the other ninja. I stepped back into my apartment and closed the door. Not two minutes later did I hear a tap on the screen door that led to my balcony, followed by another. I couldn't help by sigh.

_I guess the universe really doesn't want me to get any sleep tonight_.

Making my way over to the balcony I had a pretty good idea who decided to visit me in such a strange location. "A normal person would use the front door, you know?" I spoke out to the warm night air.

Chuckling was my only reply as a figure suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Ninja's have no use for front doors though," Kakashi smiled. Well the fabric of his mask turned upward, indicating a smile at least. "How many times have I told you that?"

I shrugged. "Lost count. What's up?"

"Just checking up on you," he replied while leaning against the railing comfortably. "How's the studying going?"

"It's…going." I laughed sheepishly. In all honestly, studying was one of the few things I was actually really good at. But the fact that the exam tomorrow was the only thing that stood in my way against becoming a Genin made me a bit uneasy. Kakashi saw this, he always did.

He had always said I was like an open book to him, which wasn't exactly a comforting thought knowing the kind of books _he_ reads.

"Don't worry, you'll do just fine," he reassured me before getting a bit smug. "After all, I did teach you everything I know."

I knew he was joking but rolled my eyes anyway. "Sure, geezer."

"Geezer? Now I know you've been spending too much time with Naruto."

"Is that such a bad thing?" I challenged him with a smirk. "He's my neighbor after all and you were the one always telling me to make friends."

It was his turn to laugh sheepishly as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I guess I did. Don't worry, I was only kidding." Kakashi straightened himself up and, reaching out his arm, began ruffling the top of my head. "Wish I could stay longer and help with the studying but I have to get these mission reports back to the Hokage."

He removed his hand and I awkwardly looked away. I could feel my cheeks heat up a bit at what he just did. I didn't think of Kakashi in a romantic way, but he's always patted my head like a puppy ever since I could remember. I'm thirteen now and it's getting kind of embarrassing.

"I'm becoming a Genin tomorrow," I mumbled to him, crossing my arms. "Can't you at least stop doing that?"

He laughed and I could hear a hint of nostalgia in it. "Sorry, old habits die hard I guess. Ja ne, Ichigo."

I narrowed my eyes at him and before I could protest he disappeared. My glare didn't subside though and I was resorted to aiming it at the spot he was just standing on, as though that could give me some kind of satisfaction. Obviously it didn't and I sighed instead.

"Weird geezer," I muttered to myself, stepping back into my bedroom. "I hated when he called me that when I was little and I still hate it now."

The only reason he started calling me that was because I had gotten a really bad sunburn on my face one summer. Due to the reddish color it gave my skin, as well as my pink hair, he had said that I resembled a strawberry and has called me Ichigo since. He doesn't call me that as often as when I was a kid, thank Kami-sama, but he still does it at times just to irk me.

My cheeks turned pink once again in embarrassment at the memory.

"Weird geezer…"

* * *

I could hear it as though it was right beside my ear.

A loud…constant buzzing noise.

It was annoying. Very annoying.

And what do I do with annoying things? Smash it with my fists, of course. And that is precisely what I did. The buzzing stopped sending me back into a moment of bliss. But that moment lasted only a second before I felt my bed move upward, as though it was suddenly alive.

Unfortunately, it turned upward only on the right and since my mind was still fuzzy from sleep I didn't even realize I was falling forward until my face collided into the floor. The bottom half of my body was still secure on the bed and I used my hands as leverage to pull the top half on it as well.

"Ouch…," I mumbled, rubbing my sore nose. I turned around to find a smirking Kakashi and my eyes turned deadly. But as usual, he wasn't fazed.

"I had a feeling you'd sleep in so I stopped by to check," he tells me, not even trying to hide the amusement from his voice. "As usual I was right."

"A simple 'wake up' would've been just fine," I grumbled back, rubbing the rest of the sleep from my eyes.

"Where's the fun in that though?" Kakashi averted his gaze to the now-smashed alarm clock and sweat-dropped. "That's the third one in only two months. I really should buy you a stainless steel clock." He added the last part as an afterthought and the way he said it made me wonder if he was serious.

I let out a rather loud yawn and proceeded to the bathroom. Clean and fresh, I stepped back into my bedroom and instantly knew Kakashi had already left. Good thing too, on my first day at the academy he didn't leave until I got dressed, claiming that I'd fall asleep in the bathroom. Knowing my love of sleep that was probably what would've happened if he hadn't been there.

Once I was dressed I couldn't help but stare at my refection in my full-body mirror.

My outfit was simple but efficient, consisting of a red qipao dress with white circular designs, tight dark green shorts, and a red ribbon which I used to accent my face. I wouldn't say I was beautiful, but I couldn't really complain about what I saw looking back at me in the mirror.

_Perfect_, I thought with a smile of satisfaction.

* * *

_Today's the exam_.

I continued to repeat this to myself as I made my way to the academy. For some reason reminding myself of this fact seemed to calm my nerves. My thoughts were interrupted suddenly as I felt myself bump against someone and stumbled back.

"Sorry. I wasn't looking-"

My apology caught in my throat as I realized just who I had bumped into.

_Sasuke Uchiha_.

In other words: my rival since childhood.

His black hair with a blue tint blew with the wind as his onyx eyes gazed into mine with slight resentment. Sasuke's clothing consisted of a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a raised collar and the Uchiha crest on the back, and white shorts.

"Oh. It's you," I said, making sure to add annoyance into my tone. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hn," he grunted with his usual cold-tone. "Good morning to you to."

_Trying to play nice I see, well I won't let it get to me today_. Making the decision to ignore him, I proceeded my way towards the academy. Sasuke began walking too soon and quickly caught up with me. My eyebrow twitched with irritation as we walked side-by-side in silence for a while. Until Sasuke decided to break it that is.

"Today's our exam. I hope you're prepared. It would be sad to graduate without you," he said with fake worry in his voice.

"I think you should be worrying about what you're gonna do after _I_ pass and you don't."

Me, being the stubborn, hot-headed girl I am, decided that I didn't want to speak with the chicken-butt haired guy any more, and began walking at a faster pace. Sasuke, seeing this as a challenge, sped up too and overtook me temporarily.

I sped up again, causing him to do the same.

Again I walked ahead, Sasuke following behind, until we were both at a full out run to the academy.

…**.**

…**.**

The academy was packed with young ninja's in training, all excited for their exam.

Iruka suddenly came in a puff-of-smoke with a tied up Naruto at his side. The class erupted into laughter at his predicament. Iruka instructed them to take their seats in one of the rows and everyone obeyed. He opened his mouth to speak when two late students suddenly busted through the door.

The class turned around to see a panting Sakura and Sasuke.

…**.**

…**.**

"I win again Haruno," Sasuke boasted with a smirk.

"Give it up," I replied, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "I had to look back to see you. My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead."

"Have you always been this delusional?"

"What did you say?!" Sasuke was about to retort when a voice interrupted our argument.

"If you two are done…," Iruka said with an annoyed expression on his face. I bowed in apology to him and stuck my tongue out at Sasuke before going to my seat. Iruka shook his head in exasperation before turning to a student that seemed to be tied up.

_Crap, that's Naruto. Wait…why am I surprised? After class I think it's time he and I had a serious talk. _

At the moment though, Iruka seemed to be doing just that.

"I'm at the end of my rope Naruto," he said angrily and rather loud might I add, not even caring if the whole class could hear him. "You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Today you've got another chance, and you're messing it up again!"

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled, dismissing the embarrassing situation he now found himself in. Iruka took his word as a challenge and turned to the class.

"Time for a 'Henge no jutsu' test! Everyone line up!" he commanded. "Transform perfectly into me."

"WHAT?!" The class yelled in complaint.

I on the other hand took this as another opportunity to prove myself to the Uchiha and turned my gaze to find him looking right back at me, seeming to be thinking the same I did. Sparks of hate began to fly when our eyes met. I was the first one to look away, as usual, with my nose in the air.

The student began to line up in front of Iruka.

"Haruno, Sakura. You're up first."

I stepped forward, placing my hands in the form of the ram. From the corner of my eye I could see Sasuke intensely eyeing my performance and couldn't help but smirk a little. "Henge!" I could feel my entire body being consumed in smoke. Once it cleared Iruka looked at me with approval and I knew that I had successfully transformed into him.

I then transformed back, hand securely on my hip.

"Transformed into me…very good," Iruka complimented. I snuck a glance over my shoulder at Sasuke with a look of triumph. His face remained impassive though and I stomped to the back of the line in annoyance.

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!" Iruka called out. Sasuke stepped forward and nearly all of the girls, with the exception of two, counting myself of course, swooned with big hearts in their eyes.

"Hn," Sasuke says. He too then preformed the jutsu and called out 'Henge' before clouds covered him completely. When the clouds cleared, Iruka was facing another one of himself with an expressionless face.

I couldn't help but feel annoyed at that, even though I knew he would be able to do it.

"Okay…good." Iruka nodded in approval.

I refused to look at him as he walked over to the spot beside me, at the back of the line, to wait for further instruction.

_Show off_.

More students did as they were told and transformed into Iruka; some better or worse than others and they all initially passed. I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride that none had done as well as Sasuke and I had. This went on for about half of an hour until almost all of the class had been called.

"Okay, good," Iruka says as a boy ran to the back of the line, just as the others had done. "Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"This is a total waste of time." I heard one boy behind Naruto commented. He had brown hair -tied up to, unintentionally, make his head look like a pineapple- and lazy coal colored eyes.

_Shikamaru Nara._

I never had a problem with him, not that we ever talked, but hearing him insult Naruto got my blood boiling a bit. Even if what he was saying was true…

"We always pay for _your_ screw ups," a blonde girl stated. She had her waist length blonde hair up in a high pony tail, leaving one platinum bang to cover the right side of her face. Her baby blue eyes had been glaring at Naruto the whole time during the test.

_Ino Yamanaka._

This time I didn't hesitate to hide my irritation at the harsh words being thrown at him but before I could say anything he beat me too it.

"Like I give a damn," Naruto bit back at them as he stepped forward.

_Come on Naruto, just transform. You can do it. _

"Henge!" he yelled as a cloud of smoke enveloped his body. When the smoke cleared though it wasn't Iruka that appeared but a beautiful, yet naked, girl with clouds covering her modesty. My cheeks blushed heavily as Sasuke sweat-dropped and turned his eyes away. Iruka though, fell back with his eyes as wide as saucers. Naruto transformed back and burst out laughing.

"Got ya! I call it 'Sexy no jutsu'!" he claimed through his laughter, as though what he just did was something to actually be proud of.

"YOU MORON! DON'T INVENT STUPID SKILLS LIKE THAT!" Iruka yelled right in Naruto's face.

"Man. People can't take a joke…," the blonde muttered as he walked back to his seat, kids snickering at him as he did.

I watched him walk and tried to have sympathy but all that I could muster up was irritation. What kind of jutsu was that?! A pretty dumb one if you ask me. This was his last chance to prove the class wrong and impress them and that baka blew it. Yet another thing I was going to have to lecture him about after class.

Iruka sighed in exasperation and turned to face the class, who had all taken their seats.

"You all know that today is the day of the exam, correct?" All his students nodded. "Now, for the exam, you will be tested on your 'Bunshin no jutsu'. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room."

_CHA! THIS'LL BE EASY! _I couldn't help but cheer to myself with a determined smirk. Kakashi had me practice this technique once for a full day and, though at the time I wanted to punch him for it, now I'm forever grateful to him.

My eyes involuntarily averted over to Sasuke as Iruka began calling out names. He seemed to sense my gaze and turned and, once again, sparks of hate began to fly between us.

"Haruno, Sakura!" I heard my name being called out and ripped my attention away from the Uchiha and proceeded into the testing room, where Iruka and another sensei named Mizuki were sitting with official ninja headbands on the desk in front of them.

"Okay, Sakura," Iruka smiled. "Let's see what you got."

I nodded and repeated the same hand sign I had done for the other jutsu.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" My voice echoed throughout the room as smoke engulfed my body. When it cleared, a clone of me stood by my side.

"Excellent work Sakura!" Iruka commented proudly.

I sent a smile at him as the clone disappeared into smoke. I then stepped forward to claim my own headband. I took a moment to gaze at the symbol of the village on the front and felt a surge of pride flow through me before proceeding out of the testing room just as Iruka called out Sasuke's name.

I could feel his eyes on me, trying to catch mines. But I just continued to look ahead, the smirk set firmly on my face. Just as I was about to head to my seat a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"What's up, billboard brow?"

_Crap. What does she want?_

"It's nice to see you Ino." I put up my best fake smile and turned to my female rival. Sasuke, I would consider my male rival, when it came to skills. Ino on the other hand was a long and different story.

Her eyed trailed down to the headband in my hands.

"They actually let a weakling like you pass," she said with her hands on her hips. "Wow, they'll let anyone become a ninja these days." My smile quickly turned into a scowl and I glared. Unfortunately, Ino wasn't done and was about to continue when someone beat her to it.

"At least Sakura-chan's not a pudgy, pig-face like you!"

We both turned to see none other than Naruto. I smiled in satisfaction as a vain throbbed angrily on Ino's forehead. She stepped forward with a murderous look on her face and Naruto tried his best not to look scared, but his shaking hands gave him away.

"What did you say?!" Ino snarled.

"Um…I-I said…"

"He said you're a pudgy, pig-face!" I quickly spoke up, coming to Naruto's rescue. "And I have to agree with him."

Before an argument could break out we heard Iruka call her name. She stuck her tongue out at me and stomped over to the testing room. Naruto blew a sigh of relief and I couldn't but do so as well. It was still early in the morning and a fight wasn't exactly something I liked to start, as opposed to Naruto.

Which reminded me…

"Ouch!" he complained as I smacked him upside the head. "Sakura-chan…what was that for?"

I scowled at him and crossed my arms. He gulped. "What did you do last night to get you into trouble?" I didn't give him a chance to answer. "And what was with that perverted jutsu? You're lucky it was the middle of class or I would've hit you until you were bruised all over."

He took my threat seriously and averted his gaze to ground beneath his feet.

He never seemed to be able to look me in the eye whenever I lectured him, ever since we were younger. For as long as I can remember, Naruto always had a problem with authority figure, but it was a little different whenever I told him he was doing something wrong. He actually listened to what I had say.

After a moment of silence I sighed and spoke in a gentler tone. "Thanks for getting Ino off my back. But seriously Naruto, I want you to pass. You're a good person, why don't you start showing everyone that?"

"They don't wanna bother with me…" He said it so lowly that I almost didn't hear. I felt a pang of empathy and put a hand on his shoulder. That seemed to finally grab his attention from the floor to me.

"They would if you showed them just how strong I know you are. I wanna be a ninja with you Naruto, but we can't if you don't try harder."

"Uzumaki, Naruto!" Iruka yelled, breaking our moment.

"I'll see you later, okay?" I said with a wave.

I left Naruto with his face scrunched up in concentration, as though he was thinking about something really deeply.

* * *

After school, all of the graduates gathered outside of the academy with their classmates and parents, showing off the headbands they had earned through passing the 'Bunshin' test. From across the field I could see that Naruto was sitting on the swing alone, watching the whole thing with utter and complete sadness in his lonely oceanic, blue eyes.

"I'm proud of you." I heard one parent say to their child.

"Great job!" Another would say.

"I'm so proud of you! I'm going to make your favorite dinner tonight." A third would announce proudly.

"Finally a ninja…you've made me proud." Would be the final remark, said with the utmost sincerity.

"Hey, that kid…you see him?" a woman said, gesturing to Naruto.

"Yeah, he's _that_ boy. He's also the only one who failed the exam," her friend stated back.

"Well, it serves him right, if you ask me," the first said nastily.

"Just imagine what would happen if _he_ became a ninja," the second continued, not nastily but in a concerned voice. "I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Shh! We're not allowed to talk about _that_," her friend scolded, pulling an angry face at Naruto.

I sighed before averting my gaze to the headband in my palm.

_Those bastards…_

_It's bad enough he didn't pass but they don't have to talk about him, especially when he's right there! It's not like I have people to praise me either…besides Kakashi of course. But who does Naruto have? Maybe I should visit him tonight. We could hangout out at his apartment and I could cook him his favorite kind of ramen. _

"Yea that's what I'll do." The last thought was spoken out loud with certainty in my tone. With one last glance at the crowd, I hurriedly headed to the town. I didn't have any of the ingredients for the ramen at home so I'll have to buy them.

I excitedly made my way through the streets of Konoha and passed by many shops along the way. I came to stop right beside the local market and proceeded inside.

"_Hey is that…?"_

"_What's she doing here? And with that stupid smile on her face…it's disgusting."_

"_Why don't she and that demon-boy just leave the village already? Not like they'd be missed."_

"_Exactly what the hell is the Hokage thinking?"_

"_Doesn't he know who that whore's mom was? It's shameful and it was our village that suffered for it."_

There it is. The whispers. It always happens when I went out to public places. The funny thing is that they didn't look at me. They never did.

No glares.

No scowls.

Just whispers.

It's sad but I've gotten used to it and quickly grabbed the packet of ramen, carton of eggs, as well as the ham and packets of fishcakes.

I hesitated before heading to the counter. The man on the other side didn't glance at me as he quickly scanned my items.

I didn't speak.

I knew what would happen if I did and only handed him the money before scrabbling out of the market. My eyes began to burn a bit but I quickly blinked the tears away and walked.

_I've cried about this before and what happens every time? Nothing. It's pointless so I won't do it. I can't do it. _

I figure suddenly caught my attention and if I hadn't known who the person was I would've kept on walking. But I did know him. It was Iruka and he was jumping at super-speed on the roofs with an angered expression.

My mind told me to just forget about it, but my body had other plans. The bag of grocery was dropped and left forgotten as I quickly ran as fast as I could, following Iruka.

_I have this feeling…but I don't know what. But if Iruka is involved then I have a pretty good idea who he is going to. I just hope to Kami-sama that I am wrong. _

…**.**

…**.**

Naruto sat on the floor of the forest, panting after all the hard work he put into learning the jutsu in the scroll. His hands held the now rolled up scroll tightly as he gasped for air. He only looked up when a dark shadow suddenly loomed over him.

"…I've found you…," said an extremely angered Iruka.

"Hey! I found Iruka-sensei," Naruto exclaimed while pointing a finger at his sensei.

"IDIOT! I FOUND YOU!" Iruka yelled out, steam literally blowing out of his ears. He looked taken aback when Naruto began to laugh.

"Hehehe…You found me…Nice one sensei. But, I've only learned one thing," Naruto stated as he was looking as innocent as ever.

Iruka sighed. "You look all beaten up, what were you doing out here?"

Before he could reply the two suddenly heard the rustling of bushing. They turned to see a panting Sakura coming their way.

…**.**

…**.**

"Sakura-chan?" I heard Naruto say, followed by Iruka.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?"

"I…thought…something was…up…so I followed you here...sensei." My words came out in-between pants as I tried to catch my breath. My stamina wasn't exactly at its best, a fact that I hoped to change later.

Iruka sighed in exasperation, but Naruto's eyes seemed to gleam.

"Yeah!" he cheered. "Now I'll be able to impress Iruka-sensei and Sakura-chan!"

"Impress us with what?" I asked, my head tilting to side in confusion.

"I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and Iruka-sensei's gonna let me graduate, and then everything will be okay and then Sakura-chan's finally gonna be proud of me and we're gonna be ninja's together." He averted his eyes to Iruka. "That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes. Right, am I right?"

_He was practicing here?_ _Enough to damage his body, _I thought with a frown. Thankfully Naruto didn't notice my expression for he was busy speaking with Iruka-sensei. I was definitely proud of his determination but his words seemed to get a sad reaction out of me rather than a happy one. Especially when he had said, '_Sakura-chan's finally gonna be proud of me_'.

_Did he really do all this because of what I said to him before?_

"Naruto?" Iruka-sensei's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked to see him with a worried expression on his face. That didn't look like a good thing.

"Hn?" Naruto replied.

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Oh! Mizuki-sensei told me about it!" he explained. "He said if I show you this skill, I'll definitely graduate!"

"Mizuki, told you?" Iruka-sensei and I both questioned simultaneously.

"Yup!" Naruto answered.

A barrage of kunai's suddenly flung themselves at us. But I didn't even see them until Iruka swiftly pushed us out of the way just in time. He couldn't, however, save himself and ended up with a kunai lodged in his leg and all over his uniform, pinning his body to the hut behind him.

"Nice job finding the moron," a voice said, amusement laced with every word. I stood up from the ground and saw Mizuki-sensei. He was perched on a tree branch with two fuma shuriken's strapped to his back.

"So that's how it is, huh?!" Iruka yelled at him, pure anger in his tone. I was beyond confused but didn't have time to think as Mizuki-sensei averted his gaze to Naruto. My protective instincts kicked itself into gear and I ran over to the blonde's side.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll!" he commended.

His voice was definitely not how it was when he used to speak to us in class, it was much more crazed. My knees shook a little in fear at that thought. Despite that, my voice was steady.

"What's going on here?!" I shouted, making sure Mizuki-sensei could hear me.

"Naruto!" Iruka called out as he pulled a kunai out of his vest. "Whatever happens…don't give Mizuki the scroll!" Naruto's face was a question mark so Iruka continued. "That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu written inside! He used you to get his hands on it!"

"Naruto…there's no point in you having it," Mizuki chuckled. The corners of his mouth suddenly lifted to create a sinister smirk. "I'll tell you the truth…"

Iruka's eyes widened at Mizuki's words as sweat beaded down his face. "NO! DON'T!" he yelled. I flinched at the pleading tone in Iruka's voice.

_What truth…?_

"Twelve years ago…," Mizuki continued anyway. "You know about the demon fox being sealed, right? Since that day…a special rule was created for this village…"

"…A rule?" Naruto whispered.

"But…this rule was never to be told to you."

"Not to me?!" Naruto spoke with more confidence this time. "What is this rule?! Tell me!" Mizuki began snickering. My eyes narrowed and my lips tightened into a snarl at the mad look on his face.

_Whatever he's planning, it had something to do with hurting Naruto. Whatever it is, if his goal is to hurt my friend, then I have to stop him. But how? _

"What kind of rule?" Naruto asked once again and I could see that he was feeling doubtful about knowing the answer.

"The rule is…that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the nine-tailed demon fox!" Mizuki concluded.

"Shut up!" I bellowed. I didn't know what he was talking about but he had to be lying! After all, that demon had taken so many lives…Naruto's not like that.

_Is he?_

"What?" I heard Naruto whisper from my left and reached out a hand to him, but he backed away. He continued to stagger back until his knees buckled and he fell down to the ground. The pained look on his face made me uneasy. "W-What do you mean?"

"STOP IT!" Iruka continued to yell. But it was proven pointless as Mizuki continued.

"It means that you are the nine-tailed demon fox…that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire and…"

"STOP IT!"

"…you've been lied to by everyone!"

Suddenly, the image of a sad, crying little boy flashed through my mind's eye. The little boy…who's shadow reflected the nine-tailed demon fox. A younger me stood in the background, watching as all the people scorned and glared at him with eyes full of nothing but hate.

My hand clenched tightly into a fist, nails digging so deep into my palm it began to draw blood.

"Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you?" Mizuki continued before deciding that he had spoken enough. He swiftly grabbed one of the fuma shuriken's from his back. My eyes widened as he aimed it at Naruto.

_Come on, move!_ My mind seemed to be screaming at me. _He's going to hurt Naruto!_

"Iruka is the same! He also hates you!"

Mizuki began twirling the fuma shuriken in his hand at a fast pace.

"Nobody will ever love you and that scroll was used to seal you up!"

With those words out of his mouth, Mizuki flung the fuma shuriken at Naruto.

"Naruto! Get down!" I yelled in desperation.

Naruto turned and ducked while he closing his eyes, too distraught to do anything else, and seemed to just be waiting for the pain.

I didn't even realize my body had moved until my arms were wrapped around Naruto's torso.

I really didn't know what possessed me to do that, but I guessed it was the fact that Mizuki claimed that nobody ever loved him. This way, even if we both die, I'd at least prove to Naruto that that statement was far from the truth. We both awaited our fates with shut eyes.

But, it never arrived.

All I felt were drops of wet liquid fall onto my arms. I hesitantly opened my eyes and saw Naruto looking up at something...something horrifying.

It took all I had to follow his gaze and looked up into kind, brown eyes. The fuma shuriken, that was meant for Naruto, was dug firmly into Iruka's back, blood seeping through the wound. My eyes widened just as Naruto's had and tears began to gather at the corners.

Naruto was the first to break from his shock and gasped through his tears. "W-Why?"

"Because were the same…," Iruka said as tears fell from his own eyes, landing onto Naruto's cheek. "When I lost my parents…no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me…they just forgot I was there." Naruto remained frozen underneath me and I wasn't able to do anything as well. "My grades dropped…I became the class clown. I just wanted to be acknowledged, but my grades weren't good enough…so I did crazy things…and then I had to pay for it…it was hard. I know that's how you feel Naruto…you feel lonely and it hurts inside…and I should've been there for you more. I'm sorry I let you down Naruto…no one should have to suffer that much…no one should be alone like that.

His gaze shifted to me and I felt tears trickle down my cheeks. "Sakura...thank you. Thank you for caring and protecting Naruto the way I should have. At least...now I was able to do something...for the both of you."

Naruto, not knowing what to do at this point, ran away. It was all to much to handle for the little blond ninja. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and quickly chased after him.

"Naruto! Sakura! Come back!" Iruka called out from behind me, but I didn't stop. Naruto didn't need to be alone right now, he needed someone. I just hoped that Iruka's wounds aren't too bad.

I lost sight of him for a moment.

"Naruto!" I cried out, panic beginning to settle in my chest. He suddenly appeared and seemed to catch sight of something behind me. I gasped as Naruto suddenly leaped forward and moved to the side to avoid him.

But he hadn't been aiming at me. He had charged to knock Iruka-sensei back with great force. Iruka fell to the ground and skidded backwards on his back. Naruto also dropped to the ground and skidded towards the man using his feet. His breath came out in pants.

"What're you doing?" I called out, wondering if he had lost his mind for a moment.

"How did you know…," Iruka's body was suddenly covered in smoke and as it cleared, we saw that it was in-fact Mizuki, "that it was actually me?"

"Because I'm…," Naruto stated as, he to, was covered in smoke. Revealing Naruto to actually be Iruka. "Iruka."

"I see," Mizuki said with a smirk on his face. I gasped in realization and frantically began looking for the real Naruto. A head of blonde hair behind a tree caught my attention a few feet away and I made my way over to him. He had a worried look on his face and was clenching the scroll tight in his hands.

"Are you okay?" I asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. He shakily nodded and seemed to take comfort in my presence, so I seized his hand in mine and squeezed to help calm him down.

Our sensei's began speaking again so we listened.

"Wow," Mizuki coldly said with a sneer. "You'd even transform into what killed your parents to protect him."

"He won't hand the scroll over to someone like you!" Iruka angrily said.

"You idiot! Naruto and I are the same!" My ears perked up at his words and I felt Naruto's body flinch. "If you use the skills in that scroll…you can do whatever you want!" Mizuki continued. "There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll…unlike what your assuming."

…**.**

…**.**

_Naruto..._

_Demon fox..._

_He's a demon..._

_Sakura..._

_Get rid of her..._

_Whore..._

_Shouldn't be here..._

The words continued to swirl and swirl around my head in an endless spiral.

Flashes of the mistreatment he and I received from the villagers past by my eyes and a sensation took over my entire body. My blood burned as it began to boil and my heart beat faster as it tried to keep up with the heat.

"_Why don't she and that demon-boy just leave the village already? Not like they'd be missed."_

It's not fair...

We didn't do anything...

We're just kids...

He's not a demon...

We didn't do ANYTHING!

WE DON'T DESERVE THIS!

…**.**

…**.**

"Sakura?" Iruka questioned as I stepped out from behind the tree. I still wasn't really aware of what I was doing. But I knew one thing...

I was sick.

And I was tired of it all.

"You're right," I said, making sure they can all hear me. "The demon fox would do something like that."

I could hear Naruto gasp, even from all the way here and continued.

"But Naruto...is different. He's kind and passionate and he tries hard for the people he cares about." I suddenly remembered his previous words.

_'I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and Iruka-sensei's gonna let me graduate, and then everything will be okay and then Sakura-chan's finally gonna be proud of me and we're gonna be ninja's together!'_

Honestly, when I had stepped out of the tree I really didn't know what I was going to say. But suddenly, the words seemed to flow out of my mouth as though they'd been rehearsed many times before. "Naruto is my precious person and I am his. He may not be the hardest worker…and he is clumsy and no one really accepts him." I felt tears threatened to choke me as I got to the end of my speech but I swallowed them down.

_Naruto had to hear this._

_He needs to know that..._

"But he isn't the demon fox…he's a member of the hidden leaf village! He's Naruto Uzumaki!"

_...that I acknowledge him! _

Mizuki's body trembled with anger and impatience.

"You're a fool girly " he shouted as he grabbed the second fuma shuriken from his back. "I was gonna save you for later…but I've changed my mind!" I blinked and he was charging at me, preparing to strike. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

Iruka tried to move, but the wound on his back prevented him from doing so.

There was no one coming to help me.

I stood frozen, not knowing what to do. Mizuki was about to strike when a flash of orange past by my eyes. Naruto had suddenly appeared and kicked Mizuki hard in the jaw, throwing him back and causing him to release his hold on the shuriken.

"N-Naruto?" I managed to gasp out, still in slight shock at what just happened.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Mizuki bellowed as he shakily stood up. His face grew tense suddenly and sweat trickled down his forehead. I don't know what expression Naruto was making, but it definitely had Mizuki scared.

"If you ever lay a hand on her...," Naruto spoke and I was surprised at the level of murder and anger in it. "I'll kill you."

I suddenly found my voice. "You idiot! Why did you come out?! Run away!"

Mizuki stood fully up and began to laugh at Naruto's words. The hysteria in that one laugh was almost tangible. "I'LL KILL SOMEONE LIKE YOU IN ONE SHOT!"

The murderous look on Naruto's face never left as he placed his hands together to form a hand sign. "Try it trash!" he roared. "I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"

"THEN DO IT DEMON!" Mizuki dared with a mad look in his eyes.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto yelled.

Every single person present in this forest, including me, all widened our eyes as hundreds of Naruto's appeared before us. They swarmed the forest, surrounding Mizuki in a wide circle with no chance of escape.

"Wha…?!" Mizuki said as he frantically looked around at all the Naruto's ready to charge. "What's going on?!"

"What's wrong?" Every Naruto said simultaneously. "Weren't you going to kill me with one shot?"

_Naruto…_, I thought to myself in admiration. _You're amazing..._

"Well then," one clone said. "I'll start, okay?"

Mizuki let out a frustrated and slightly fearful yell of defeat as Naruto unleashed his clones on him. As Naruto advanced on Mizuki, I continued to stare in awe at him, who couldn't even perform a simple henge jutsu till this moment.

_Maybe he really will become Hokage…_

Just as the thought came I realized that I actually believed it. He had always stated to me, to everyone actually, that he'd be the next Hokage and, in all honestly, I was doubtful. But now...

"He really is amazing," Iruka spoke, appearing beside me and seeming to have read my thoughts. I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

* * *

Mizuki, at this point, laid beaten on the ground with blood pooling out of his mouth and nose. Naruto and I stood over him, both glaring at our traitor of a sensei.

"Hehe…I went a little to far…," Naruto sheepishly says.

_No duh_, I thought to myself while rolling my eyes at him. But the smile that followed couldn't be helped. I turned my attention to the injured sensei that we actually cared about. "Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied with his usual kind smile. "Don't worry about me…Naruto. Come over here…there's something I want to give you." Naruto rushed over to his side. "Close your eyes," Iruka instructed. Naruto did as he was told. I was surprised at first before smiling tenderly at his actions.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Naruto complained impatiently.

"Okay, you can open your eyes." Naruto did so and the first thing he saw was Iruka holding his goggles with his headband missing.

"Great job Naruto!" I patted him on the back, but he didn't seem to understand just what was going on.

"Congratulations…on graduating!" Iruka said happily. Naruto just stood there in shock though and I shook my head, waiting patiently for him to get over it. "Let's celebrate! Ramen's on me!"

Seeming to recover at the mention of ramen, Naruto tackled Iruka in a bone-crushing hug. "Iruka-sensei!"

"Ouch…," Iruka grunted, referring to his injuries. I gazed at them laughing together.

_Naruto..._

_Looks like you did it. We're ninja's together. The road ahead of us will probably be a long and hard one...but at least we'll do it together. _

"Sakura-chan! Let's go! Let's go!"


	3. Chapter 2: Team Seven

**Sorry I wasn't able to update for two weeks. I'm finishing up my first semester of college so I've been studying for finals. But this weekend I went upstate with my family, where there is no internet and I swear it was the perfect and most relaxing place to get this writing done. **

**My mom said writers usually go to secluded places with no connections to technology to get their writing done. **

**Don't know if that's true but it was definitely proven for me this weekend, lol. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

I was standing in front of my mirror, running my hands through my pink locks when a thought occurred to me. I didn't even realize this until I noticed my bangs were obscuring my vision.

_Where did I put my headband?_

Crap, I think I left it at Naruto's last night. After the incident with Mizuki we had decided to head over to his apartment to have our own celebratory ramen. Iruka-sensei of course went to get medical attention as well as report that traitor of a sensei to the Hokage.

I was about to head over to Naruto's when there was a highly enthusiastic knock on my door that soon turned into a full out thumping musical. I rubbed the temples of my head, feeling a headache coming along.

"It's open!" I yelled.

The door was swung open with a little too much force creating a loud 'thud' that echoed throughout my tiny apartment.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed happily with a wide grin that spread across his entire face. My brow twitched in annoyance but I forced a smile of my own when I saw what was in his hands. He laughed sheepishly and held up my headband. "You forgot this."

"Thanks Naruto," I replied, retrieving it and strapping it onto my hair in the same style as I had my ribbon. "Excited to be assigned a team?"

"Only if it's your team."

A blush stained my cheeks at his innocent smile and I turned away. "L-Lets get going."

* * *

As Naruto and I walked down the streets I couldn't help but look around to find many of the people around whispering things and turning their backs on us. A few days ago this would have bothered me, but the hyperactive blonde that chattered away by my side somehow made me feel good. It helped remind me that I wasn't alone in the villages scorn.

I always knew that the villagers didn't like Naruto as much as they didn't like me, but now that I know why I feel as though we were closer. As though there had been a thin wall between us, but now that wall had crumbled down.

It's hard to describe, but I'm happy that we got even closer than we were before.

"See you later!" A girl called from inside the Yamanaka flower shop, no doubt Ino on her way to the academy. As expected, the blonde walked out into the street. She grinned as she caught sight of us.

"Good morning, Sakura," she greeted, a smirk playing on her face.

"Good morning, Ino," I replied, mirroring Ino's smirk. I stared at the blonde for a few moments before walking forward. Unfortunately, Ino decided to follow me and we walked side-by-side. Naruto glared at the blonde, as though daring her to make a comment about me.

"Nervous about being assigned a team?" Ino said, obviously trying to scare me. Instead of smirking, I smiled at her and she looked taken aback.

"Not one bit!"

Ino quickly recovered from her shocked state and smirked as an evil glint shined in her eye.

"I wonder who'll be in Sasuke-kun's team." My eyebrows furrowed as I clenched my fist in order to keep my anger in check. "It would be nice if I was on his team. Spending everyday training together…him protecting me during missions…maybe I might even get him to like me…"

At this point, my face was as red as a tomato and I felt steam literally blowing out of my ears. But I was on fire from the rage that built up at Ino's last statement. The even more frustrating thing was that I didn't even know why I was feeling this way. I did know one thing though; Ino-pig was gonna pay! Luckily, for her, we arrived at the academy before my fists could do something I knew they were going to regret. With one last smirk from Ino, she proceeded inside the academy.

I hung behind with Naruto. Now that we were alone, I finally noticed that he was standing a few feet away from me.

"What?" I asked as my anger began to subside.

"I didn't want to get caught in your flames...," he mumbled fearfully. "You're kinda scary when you're mad Sakura-chan."

All of the rage I had felt before was gone at that last sentence and I laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry," I said. I suddenly felt a familiar presence and looked by the swing that was attached to the large tree and smiled. "Naruto, you can go on ahead, I'll be inside in a second." He seemed curious but let it go and nodded before heading inside. Making my way over to the tree I grinned and pointed a finger to my headband. "What'd you think?"

Kakashi's eyes crinkled as he smiled. He ruffled my head a bit, careful not to mess up my headband. "It looks good. I'm proud of you, Ichigo."

I had felt pride and growth swell up in me but that quickly vanished and suddenly I was a little kid again. "Stop calling me that, geezer!"

Kakashi laced his fingers behind his head, giving the illusion of a mischievous little boy. "I don't know, you're face is looking pretty red right about now."

"Cause you're embarrassing me!"

"Whatever you say, little strawberry."

I opened my mouth to retort but thought better of it and resorted to crossing my arms. "Whatever, I gotta go to class now."

"You're being assigned a team, am I right?" he asked. I nodded and he seemed to be smirking behind that mask of his, but I couldn't be sure. I raised an eyebrow and was even more confused by his next words. "It's nice to prepare yourself for your team as well as whoever your sensei will be. Well, bye, Ichigo."

Kakashi waved to me before disappearing in smoke. _Weirdo, and I thought he was insane before. Maybe he really is just getting old. _

…**.**

…**.**

Naruto was resting his chin on his arms in the academy he would soon say goodbye to. The giddy feeling of finally being a ninja caused him to continue snickering while a smile danced across his face. A boy, the same one who had told him it was his fault they had to repeat the Henge review the day of the exam, walked passed his desk and stopped when he caught sight of Naruto.

"Huh? What the hell are you doing here, Naruto? You can't be here unless you graduated."

Naruto got a smug look on his face.

"Oh yeah? You see this?" Naruto asked, pointing to his headband. "Open your eyes, Shikamaru; it's a regulation headband. We're gonna be training together. How do ya like that?"

"Hn," Shikamaru grunted, ignoring the blondes boasting and putting a hand on his hip lazily.

"Hey, will you let me through?" someone behind Shikamaru complained. Both boys turned their heads around to see Sakura, standing proud with both hands on her hip. Shikamaru walked away as Naruto spoke with much excitement.

…**.**

…**.**

"Sakura-chan! Why don't you sit next to me?"

"Sure," I replied with a smile. But my decision was immediately regretted when I saw who sat on the chair at the end of the row.

_Uchiha._

The name ran through my mind bitterly. Naruto noticed my change in expression and asked if I was okay.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine. But, Naruto, can you move one seat over, please?" Naruto looked confused by the demand but obligated either way. As I took my seat a crowd of girls suddenly swarmed the row we were sitting at.

"Hey! Who said you could sit next to my Sasuke-kun!" one girl said, no doubt one of Sasuke's annoying fan-girls.

"You're Sasuke-kun! You mean mine!" another argued.

"You both are delusional! It's obvious that he's in love with me!" one more added. Soon enough, there was a bunch of angry fan-girls arguing on who Sasuke likes the most.

_Clueless_, _don't they know the only thing Uchiha is attracted too is himself?_

I glanced over at him, expecting to see an annoyed expression directed at his fan-girls, which I admit I would like to see. But my eyes caught his and we began one of our famous glaring contest.

…**.**

…**.**

Sasuke heard a dull thud on his desk and turned his eyes away from Sakura, only to come face-to-face with the blonde boy. Naruto was crouching on the desk in front of the Uchiha, so close their noses were almost touching, growling at him audibly with a death glare.

Sasuke looked at him as though he were a fly he'd like to swat.

"Naruto!" one fan-girl yelled. "Hey, stop glaring at Sasuke-kun!"

_Why are they so obsessed with him? _Naruto thought bitterly to himself. _Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! What's the big deal with this guy?_

The Uchiha, seeing that Naruto wasn't planning on backing off soon, narrowed his eyes into a glare of his own. Their faces got closer and sparks of hate began to fly when they looked at the other. Sakura sighed at their childish actions; ignoring the fact that she does the same thing with Sasuke. The fan-girls were all yelling and complaining about the blonde being so close to their _Sasuke-kun._

"Whoa, haha, this is great!" a guy in front of Naruto said as he stood up and bumped the boy. "Sorry, did I bump you?" he asked as he turned to face Naruto.

"What the…?" Sakura mumbled to herself with one raised eyebrow, speechless.

"I…uh…," Ino, who sat in the row behind Sakura, trailed off, not being able to form any words at the moment.

…**.**

…**.**

Naruto and Sasuke were _kissing_.

Accident though it was, a kiss is a kiss and a boy just took the first those two ever had. The two of them broke apart as fast as they could and began to spit and choke, obviously trying desperately to pretend that didn't just happen.

My shock went away and I covered my mouth, stifling the laughs that were attempting to get out.

"Naruto! You moron! I'm gonna kill you!" Sasuke threatened while cupping his throat as though he were actually choking.

"Yuck! My mouth is rotting!" Naruto exclaimed while cupping his own throat.

_Over-reaction much? Shesh guys, it was just a little kiss. _

I was about to speak my thoughts when I suddenly felt a very dark aura around us. Naruto seemed to be feeling it too as sweat began to bead down his face. He turned around, only to be faced with many angry fan-girls ready to beat the living day-lights out of him.

"I-It wasn't m-my fault! I swear!" Naruto told them, putting his hands up in defense.

_He's toast…. _

* * *

After the brutal beating by many angry fan-girls, Naruto laid resting on his arms. Broken and bruised and looking almost dead. To avoid any more annoying interruptions from fan-girls I agreed, much to my _great_ dismay, to switch seats with him. That didn't stop their glares but I doubt any of them would try to beat me up.

"As of today, you are all ninjas," Iruka's lecture began. "To get here you faced challenging trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next is going to be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin, first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a Jounin; an elite ninja."

"Well, someone's gotta be in Sasuke-kun's group. I wonder who?" Ino says from behind me.

"I don't know," I replied nonchalantly. "You can be in his group for all I care."

_Humph, like I care about that Uchiha._

…**.**

…**.**

'_**Cha! Ino-pig better not be in Uchiha's group!' **_Her inner-self exclaimed very angrily. _**'That'll lesser my chances of beating him firsthand at training!'**_

_Why groups of three? That'll only slow me down_, Sasuke thought, glowering at nothing in particular.

_I wanna be with Sakura-chan and…well, I don't care who else as long as it's not Sasuke_, Naruto thought.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads," Iruka stated, looking over the list in his hands.

…**.**

…**.**

"…squad seven; Uzumaki Naruto…"

Naruto's head perked up after hearing his name.

"…Haruno Sakura…"

He cheered and stood up with his arms triumphantly in the air. I sighed and smirked at him.

"…and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto and I's groans echoed throughout the classroom simultaneously, emphasizing our disappointment.

Iruka's glare shut us up right away and we both sulked in our seats. An idea suddenly popped into my head and I decided to have a little fun with the fact that Sasuke was put into my group. I turned to Ino, making a peace-sign with my fingers and sticking a tongue out at the blonde. A vain throbbed on Ino's forehead at my action. Her reaction though was not what I was anticipating.

"Well, good for you Sakura," she said as she turned her head away, a mischievous smirk set on her face. Her next words were definitely a surprise. "I mean, now you get to spend much more time with your boyfriend."

Sasuke, who apparently heard this, glared at her. I glared as well and felt heat rise into my cheeks.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I declared at the same time Sasuke said, "She's not my girlfriend."

We then directed our glares from Ino to each other for a few moments before turning both our heads away stubbornly with crossed arms. I heard Ino snicker and was about to say a comeback when Shikamaru surprisingly spoke.

"I don't get it one bit. What would she see in a guy like that anyway? He's not so special," he commented lazily to Ino, who he had the misfortune to be seated with.

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru. Don't you get it at all?" Ino asked him rudely.

"No I don't get it, 'cos I'm not a girl," he answered.

"You are so full of yourself. I'd hate to be in your squad."

_Please let her be in his team_, I pleaded in my mind.

"And squad ten; Yamanaka Ino," Iruka continued to announce. "Nara Shikamaru…"

"Ha! Did you say something about _hating _to be on my squad?" Shikamaru stole my opportunity to taunt her but I didn't care when I saw her growl in response. He and I exchanged smirks of satisfaction.

"…and, Akimichi Choji," Iruka concluded before looking up at us all and lowering the sheet that held the list of names. "Those are all the squads."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called, standing up and pointing at Sasuke. "Why does a great ninja, like me, have to be in the same group as a slug like Sasuke?"

"Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores over all," Iruka told him. Many ninja in the class began laughing. "To create a balanced group, we had to put the worst student with the two best students. Since Sakura was the best kunoichi, she fits the bill as well."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, dobe," Sasuke said to him.

"Hey, what did you say?!" Naruto yelled at the uninterested Uchiha.

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke mocked.

"Knock it of, Uchiha. Leave him alone," I spoke up, glaring at the boy while standing up for Naruto.

"Wow, a loser sticking up for a dobe," Sasuke commented with a smirk. "What an interesting combination."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Both Naruto and I yelled out. Iruka cleared his throat for attention. Yet again we reluctantly stopped talking and settled for glowering that the calm Uchiha beside us. I suddenly remembered Kakashi's previous words and wondered if he had any part in this _selection_ of teams.

"After lunch, you'll meet your new Jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."

* * *

_Ah, what a pain_, Naruto thought to himself as he sat on the roof of a building close to some apartments. _I get into the same group as Sakura-chan and __**he's **__gotta be in it too._

"There's got to be a way to deal with this," Naruto spoke out loud to himself, still annoyed about the 'team' thing. He then noticed Sasuke leaning onto the windows in one of the apartments, eating an onigiri. "Got it!"

An evil grin spread across Naruto's face as an idea popped into his head.

* * *

Shikamaru and his team were having lunch together on a roof which over-looked Sasuke's apartment, where he was eating lunch alone.

"Alright, if we're in the same group, you're going to have to follow _my l_ead. That's the only way it'll work," Ino ordered while munching a large onigiri.

"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru groaned, not wanting to be anywhere near the girl, let alone have to take her orders. _That's the only way it'll work 'cos she throws a __**fit **__if she doesn't get her own way_, he added mentally.

"Why don't you lead us to some barbeque, Ino?" Choji, who had a onigiri in each hand and several more in his lap, asked hopefully.

"Hopeless!" Ino groaned loudly, face-palming herself. Shikamaru had decided to just ignore her when he noticed Naruto sneaking up on Sasuke, who was still located right across the street from them.

"It's Naruto," he declared, grabbing Ino's attention.

Team Ten watched as Naruto jumped though the window and tackled Sasuke to the ground and out of sight. Shikamaru and Ino just stared in shock as the window closed and the sound of fighting was heard. Loud bangs and growls were obvious, but no one could tell who was emitting them or breaking the objects in Sasuke's small home.

"Naruto!" Ino yelled in frustration. "What the hell is he doing in there?!"

From inside the room, the fighting sounds continued for a few more seconds. It sounded like Naruto or Sasuke was hitting the other, probably Sasuke hitting Naruto in their opinions, and then the person getting hit fell down and got back up, returning the blow with one of their own. It carried on for a bit longer before all suddenly went quiet.

"What happened?" Shikamaru mumbled to himself.

* * *

Inside the room, Sasuke was standing over a tied-up Naruto, who had two pieces of tape covering his mouth.

"Huh, nice try," he smirked in victory.

* * *

Team Ten saw the window open and Sasuke hauled himself out with one hand until he was on the roof under the window. He then smirked and looked forwards, not noticing the newly grouped Genin watching him. He shook his head, letting his hair move slightly in the soft breeze, before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"He beat Naruto without even breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said in wonder at the Uchiha's ability.

"What'd you expect?" Ino asked, looking sure of herself. "Naruto against Sasuke? No contest."

…**.**

…**.**

I sat comfortably on the stone-bench, finishing up my bento. My gazed lingered at the petals each falling individual from their place on a tree. A sigh then passed through my lips as my thoughts began to wonder.

_Naruto and Sasuke… I'm a little worried…what if we all can't learn to accept each other? _Another sigh was let out as my elbows rested themselves on my lap, chin rested on hands. _My team is hopeless…_

A strange feeling suddenly course through me and gazed up to see Naruto staring right at me. I was about to call out to him when the look on his face stopped me in my tracks. I've never seen that kind of look on his face and it definitely took me by surprise. It was not his usual goofy grin.

No, it was…soft…loving…warm…

My cheeks heated up a bit as I averted my gaze. What the hell? He's definitely never gotten that kind of reaction out of me. It was almost as though I was...shy. Yet again, what the hell?

"Sakura, your lips are so soft and lovely," Naruto said smoothly, suddenly appearing in-front of me. Now I was beyond confused. "It's makes me feel like kissing them." My instincts told me something was up and I was about to interrogate the blonde when he continued. "Only kidding." He suddenly chuckled, seeming to suddenly get his humor back, and took a seat next to me on the bench. "That's a dumb thing to say."

I had the strong urge to punch him, but held back and glared instead.

"I want to ask you something?" he stated, causing me to withdrawn my glare. "What do you think of Sasuke?"

…**.**

…**.**

Back in the apartment, Naruto was still tied up on the floor with two pieces of tape covering his mouth.

_How did he do that?! h_e thought angrily.

* * *

_Sasuke stood over a hog-tied Naruto with a look of superiority on his face, along with a mocking smirk. Naruto puffed into smoke and was replaced by a log in no time. Uchiha Sasuke looked shocked, to say the least. Six Naruto's suddenly all leaped at him from above._

"_I gotcha!" they all cried together as they flew at him. _

_Sasuke looked up and quickly recovered and leaped up, dodging all the clones. Sasuke quickly grabbed some shurikens from his paunch and launched them, causing all the clones to disappear, leaving the real Naruto defenseless as Sasuke charged at him._

* * *

Sakura was taken aback by Naruto's question and looked away with a downcast look on her face. Naruto looked up in surprise at her reaction.

"He thinks he's got me all figured out," she mumbled, sadness clear in her tone. "He calls me names and enjoys tormenting me. But for some reason…I can't seem to hate him…" The shocked look on Naruto's face never went away as she continued. "No matter how hard I try, I can't hate him the way I want to. The truth is…all that I really want…is for him to acknowledge me. Not as a rival but...as the girl he used to know."

"You…you just want me to acknowledge you?" Naruto whispered, not noticing the slip up he made in his words. Luckily, Sakura was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice. She looked as though she was lost in the past and he wanted to get her back to the present. Naruto didn't even realize when he called out to her. "Sakura…," he whispered. Sakura looked up at him and was taken aback at how close his face was to hers.

"N-Naruto, what are you doing?" she nervously asked, feeling extremely awkward at this moment.

Naruto didn't reply though.

Instead, he inched his face closer to hers. Sakura tried to back away but she was at the edge of the bench. As Naruto's lips were about to connect with hers, she shot out her fist and it collided with his face. Naruto flew back a few feet away and onto the cold stone ground with a shocked expression. But that shocked expression turned into one of fear at the murderous and brutal look on Sakura's face.

'_**Cha! Kick his sorry ass!'**_ Her inner yelled, as fire blazed all around her.

Without another word, Naruto leaped into the air and out of sight.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled out, causing a few birds in the near-by trees to fly away in fear.

* * *

Naruto was currently leaning against the academy hallway, out-of-breath from escaping a very angry Sakura.

His body was suddenly engulfed in smoke.

Once it cleared, Sasuke was standing right where the fake Naruto had been. _Why did I do that? h_e thought to himself, frustrated. _What was I thinking? What the hell even possessed me to do that? _

His thoughts traveled to her lips as they were about to lightly touch his and Sasuke's face exploded with heat. He slammed his head into the wall, hard, extremely aggravated with himself.

* * *

The real Naruto had finally escaped from those ropes and was walking down the path when he spotted Sakura up ahead with her back turned to him.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" he called out. Sakura slowly turned around and Naruto cowered back in fear at the look on her face. He'd never seen anything so scary in his entire life.

"Naruto…," she mumbled before unleashing her rage. "YOUR DEAD!"

"WHAT DID I DO?!" Naruto yelled as he ran away for dear life with Sakura swiftly chasing after him. _Why does this always happen to me?! _


	4. Chapter 3: The Bell Test(Part 1)

**Hey, sorry this chapter took a while but I finally finished my finals and I have a break before my second semester of college, yay! Lol, anyway this chapter is really long and, I don't know why I didn't do this in my previous version of the story, but here I split it into two parts. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

"Why is our sensei so damn late?!"

I was one more question away from shouting. Although I highly agreed with him, Naruto had asked the same question around twelve times so far. Yes, our new sensei was taking a while but I at least had to decency to pretend he/she had something more important to do.

I sighed.

Who am I kidding? If he/she doesn't show up soon enough I'm gonna start complaining as well. Naruto groaned while Sasuke finally began looking annoyed.

He sat on his own at the front desk closest to the door while I leaned against the desk next to his. Naruto, however, kept moving around and pacing at the front of the room, irritating us even further. The blonde stuck his head out of the door and looked both ways several times, to see if our sensei was coming yet. He/She apparently wasn't anywhere in sight, and Naruto was getting even more impatient.

_If that was even possible. _

"Naruto, why don't you just sit still?" I finally suggested.

"All the other teams left with their sensei's," he countered. "And even Iruka-sensei went home already!"

"Just be patient."

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to relax. A noise broke me out of that though and I looked up to see Naruto, who was standing on a chair, placing a chalk eraser into the gap between the slightly open door and the door frame, grinning like mad.

"What do you think your doing?" I crossed my arms, giving the illusion of authority, as I walked up to him.

"It's his fault for being late," Naruto said proudly.

"As much as I think you're pranks are funny Naruto, you're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that."

Naruto paused and grinned with a pink tint on his cheeks. "Hehe...Sakura-chan thinks my pranks are funny."

I heard Sasuke sigh from behind me. "Our teacher's a Jounin; do you think he'd fall for something like that?"

A hand appeared on the door and slid it open slightly before the owner of the hand peeped their head in. Just as Naruto had planned, the Jounin fell for his trick and the eraser plopped on his head, covering it in chalk dust.

"I got him! He totally fell for it!" Naruto boasted, pointing a finger at the man.

"Naruto, your so childish," I said before mumbling to myself, "but nice shot."

The man walked into the room and picked up the eraser, studying it for a few moments before observing his team.

He was wearing the usual, regulation uniform of a Jounin, meaning blue shirt, blue trousers and a forest green vest, with blue ninja sandals and his weapons pouches on his thigh and hip. He also had a blue mask covering his face up to the bridge of his nose, so all that was left visible were his eyes. Unfortunately, his headband was tied in a way so that it covered his right eye, only showing his obsidian left one. His hair was silver and spiked up, leaning slightly to the right as it did so. He also had blue, fingerless gloves on with a metal plate over the backs of his hand.

I took one look at him and gaped in utter shock. I wouldn't be surprised if my mouth was down onto the floor.

"Hmm, how can I put this as kindly as possible?" Kakashi asked himself, not really making note of my presence. "My first impression of this group…you're all a bunch of idiots."

Naruto and Sasuke scowled at him while I just continued to gap. Suddenly, everything he said to me before I got assigned a team made sense.

"Great," I groaned, directing it to Kakashi. "Just when I thought I got enough bad luck being on this team the universe proves me wrong with my new _sensei._

Kakashi seemed as though he was trying to hide his amusement.

* * *

The interrogation was not fun. Not fun at all.

Apparently my new teammate's saw the fact that I knew Kakashi-sensei (wow it's weird calling him that) before this as a step up in some kind of competition between us and I was now supposedly in the lead. Man, can those boys really be that competitive?

Naruto was also upset at the fact that I have never introduced the two, despite how long he and I have known each other. Thankfully, Kakashi, I mean Kakashi-sensei, ordered us to the roof of the academy and I quickly escaped from all the questions.

We currently sat staring at each other.

Us Genin were sitting on the steps, with Sasuke in the middle of Naruto and I.

Our new _sensei_ was sitting on the railing across from us with his arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke had his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers laced together, hiding his mouth and the tip of his nose. Naruto had his legs apart with his hand on the ground, arms going through his legs to do so. I on the other hand was positioned with my knees pulled up to my chest and my right hand holding my left wrist in front of my legs.

"Well, let's begin with introducing ourselves," Kakashi began lazily. If I didn't know the man personally I'd have thought he would rather be any place else than here. But I knew that that was just the way he spoke to people he didn't really know.

"What do you want to know?" I couldn't help but ask, trying hard to take this seriously.

"Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future." He shrugged. "Hobbies. Things like that."

"Why don't _you _tell us stuff first?" Naruto recommended simply.

"Me?" Kakashi asked, pointing to himself.

_I really need to start getting used to calling him Kakashi-sensei._

He continued.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate…I don't feel like telling you that."

"Huh?" Naruto was surprised by his answer, but was ignored.

"…My dreams for the future…never really thought about it," Kakashi admitted easily. "As for my hobbies…I have lots of hobbies."

I force down a stream of laughs that threatened to burst out and turned to my teammates. "Well, that was totally useless. All you guys really found out was his name."

They nodded in agreement.

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant ramen in a cup, but I really, _really _like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku ramen shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is to eat and compare different cup ramens. And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole entire village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important," Naruto concluded, pumping his fist in the air out of serious determination.

_There he goes again with that Hokage dream_, I thought with a light giggle. Naruto heard it and grinned at me.

"Alright, next."

Kakashi finally directed his attention to me and I tried to read his eyes, well eye, but they were well guarded. I narrowed my eyes and decided that if he going to keep this strictly professional, then so will I.

"Hurry up loser," Sasuke spoke up, obviously getting impatient. "We don't have all day." I ignored his comment and began my introduction.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like is sweets, warm weather and sleeping. My hobbies are beating the Uchiha at everything I do, eating ramen with Naruto and reading. I don't really have a dream but my life long ambition has been to find a purpose in life and something worth fighting for."

I didn't even realize how honest I had been with that last part until I noticed Sasuke and Naruto's questioning looks. Kakashi's facade went down a bit and I saw admiration in the look he was giving me. He quickly covered it up though and spoke.

"And…what do you hate?"

I didn't even hesitate to answer. "Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke sweat-dropped at this while Naruto burst out laughing. "I also really, really hate cold weather," I concluded with a sweet smile.

Kakashi nodded in approval and pointed a finger to Uchiha. "Okay, last one."

"My name…is Uchiha Sasuke," he said slowly.

"What, forgot your name?" I muttered, noticing the pause. Sasuke glared at me while Naruto laughed and even Kakashi sighed in amusement.

"I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly _li__ke _anything. Well, except proving Haruno here wrong about a lot of things she seems so sure about." I opened my mouth to retort but the look Kakashi gave me silenced me. "Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. I'm going to kill a certain man and find someone I've lost," he finished with a dark tone.

Everyone was silent, just staring at Sasuke.

Naruto looked worried, not for the Uchiha but for himself. I guess he assumes Sasuke's speaking about him when talking about the killing part.

_Sasuke…_

An image flashed through my mind. The image of two young ninja's playing and laughing together...

I quickly shook my head, trying to rid myself of those painful memories.

_Get over it. No use in dwelling on the past._

"Good; you're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow," said Kakashi, his tone indicating that he actually couldn't care less about what we all just said. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, knowing that it'd be extremely rude seeing as he's my new sensei.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, saluting sloppily. "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task that the four of us will do together."

"What, what, what?" Naruto was obviously getting impatient.

"Survival training," Kakashi finished with an ominous tone.

"Survival training?" Sasuke asked, unsatisfied. I couldn't help but agree with him.

"Why are we going to train when it's a mission?" I argued. "We had plenty of training at the academy."

"This is no ordinary training," Kakashi informed us, his eye crinkling as though he was smiling underneath his mask. Crap, I've seen that look only once before and I had gotten the nickname _Ichigo_ soon after.

"What is it then?" We all asked at the same time.

Kakashi chuckled.

I frowned at him, suspicious. "What's so funny, _sensei_?"

"Um...well…it's just that…when I tell you this, you guys are totally going to freak out," he taunted. He was definitely having fun with this and if Sasuke and Naruto weren't here I'd fight him for an answer like I usually do. Not like I ever won but Kakashi would usually tell me whatever he was hiding as a reward for my effort.

"What-?" My words caught in my throat as Kakashi abruptly stopped laughing and adopted a scary looking face before continuing.

"Out of the twenty-seven graduates who just came here, only nine will actually be accepted as Genin," he stated menacingly. "The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words; this is a make it-break it, pass-fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."

Naruto's face became a mix of shock and fear. Sasuke just looked annoyed and utterly pissed off. Although I was annoyed at the act Kakashi had put just to tell us this, I was beginning to get nervous and tucked my hands into my chest as to not allow anyone to see that they were shaking a bit. Why didn't he tell me this before?

"I told you you'd freak out," Kakashi mocked innocently, as if he hadn't just told us that we would most likely have to go back to school for another year of learning.

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed. "I went through so much trouble! Then what was the final exam for?!"

"That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become Genin." Kakashi shrugged, keeping up the act that he didn't care in the slightest for the future of the group in front of him. Or...at least I hoped it was an act. He had always said I was his open book but I could honestly say that the feeling was _not_ mutual.

"WHAT?!" Sasuke and I rubbed our ears with annoyed looks at how loud our knuckle-headed teammate was being.

"Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds," Kakashi explained. "Bring your ninja equipment and meet at 5 A.M."

I looked over at my two teammates, curious.

Naruto's whole body was vibrating and he was sweating bullets. Sasuke on the other hand just tightened his grip on his hands, looking annoyed.

_Even these two are nervous about the test. _My hands tightened into fists. _I gotta pass. There's__ nothing stopping me from becoming a ninja!_

"That's is, you're dismissed," Kakashi said, waving a hand at us. "Oh, tomorrow, you'd better skip breakfast or else…you'll puke." He added the last part menacingly, but with a cheerful smile under his mask.

He disappeared and I, ignoring Naruto's calls, ran straight down the stairs and out of the academy. It was just a hunch, but I had a feeling I knew where he was going. It took a while and a lot of energy but I finally managed to make it back to my apartment. As soon as I stepped inside I found him sitting on my bed reading his orange book.

Not even looking up from it he said, "You made it here pretty fast. I see your speed is improving."

"How'd...you know I wanted to talk to you?" I panted at the beginning of the sentence but finally managed to catch my breath.

"If the glare you sent my way throughout the entire thing wasn't an indication I don't know what is." He chuckled. "Like I said, you're easy to read."

I crossed my arms and stood my ground. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You want the truth?" I nodded. "I didn't even know I'd be your sensei until the last minute."

"By last minute you mean..."

"The night before you got assigned a team," he finished my sentence.

"That seems a little inconvenient," I pointed out. I had the feeling that he wasn't telling me the whole thing.

Kakashi just shrugged before leaning his whole body down and resting the book on his face. "Can't be helped. Now, if you don't mind, you're new sensei is going to take a nap. Lock the door on your way out."

My blood boiled in frustration. "This is my apartment!"

He didn't respond and the next second I heard light snoring coming from below the book. I raised an eyebrow. He couldn't have fallen asleep that fast, could he? I sighed and left, deciding to at least let him have this.

* * *

The next day at five o'clock in the morning I walked to the designated rendezvous point. Well, swaying would be a better word actually. The geezer didn't leave until late last night and I ended up falling asleep on the floor. Not even was it uncomfortable but I had only gotten about four hours of rest last night. Did he do that on purpose?

Sasuke and Naruto had arrived before me and we each were carrying large bags-midnight blue shoulder bag for Sasuke and a black shoulder bag for me, with a dark green backpack in Naruto's case- full of our ninja equipment.

We each nodded in acknowledgment of each other and waited for Kakashi to arrive. Everything was silent until the growling of all our stomach's emanated in union.

Naruto and I laughed while Sasuke looked away, acting as though his stomach wasn't involved with it.

* * *

An hour passed and the sun was starting to rise.

I was now weary and wished for nothing more than to sleep until lunch time. About half-an hour ago I had also gotten tired of standing and sat down on the grass, leaning onto Naruto's back for support. He had given up on standing a while ago, which was smart.

I saw Sasuke glance at me from the corner of my eye when I did this but ignored him and continued to wait for Kakashi.

…**.**

…**.**

Yet another hour flew by and Sasuke was, somehow, still on his feet.

Naruto and Sakura, however, had long since fallen asleep in exhaustion, each leaning on each others back for support.

Sasuke's eyes began to drop and he shook his head, trying desperately to stay awake. But the lack of sleep was to much and Sasuke sat down on the ground and before he knew it exhaustion took over and everything went black.

…**.**

…**.**

"Morning everyone!" A rather loud voice said.

I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked to see Kakashi smiling at us innocently. I glared and was about to say something when Naruto stood up, causing me to stumble back a little, and beat me too it.

"Your late!" he yelled, pointing an accused finger at Kakashi.

"Well a black cat crossed my path so…," Kakashi trailed off at the glares he received from his students. "Anyway, Sakura? Sasuke? I thought you two couldn't stand each other?"

I was confused by his words and that was when I finally noticed the hairs tickling my legs and looked down to see Sasuke's head on my lap. All I saw when red due to the blush that enveloped my face and, it was hard to tell but I think his face was about as red as mine.

"Get off!" I bellowed, the warmth of that blush making me uncomfortable, and ripped Sasuke's head off my lap. He stood up fast and dusted himself off with just a tint of red still in his cheeks. I hastily got up and glared at the Uchiha by my side.

"Well," Kakashi cleared his throat, clearly resisting the urge to call me 'Ichigo'. "Let's get started."

He then walked over to a near-by stump and placed a timer on top of it carefully. We watched him in question. He then pressed the button on top to set the timer for a certain time and turned to face us so he could explain and answer the silent question asked by us all.

"Here we go," Kakashi began. "It's set for noon." He took two bells out of his pocket and let them jingle. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it." The bells bounced and jingled again. "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch."

"Wha-!?" Naruto cried loudly in protest of the idea.

"I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps," Kakashi continued, pointing to three wooden posts. "But I'll also eat right in front of you."

We all had a look of despair at his words.

"So that's why he said…," Sasuke began.

"…to not eat anything," I unconsciously finished his sentence, but he didn't seem to mind. I noticed something suspicious about those bells. "But wait, there's three of us. How come there are only _two _bells?"

"Very good Sakura. Believe it or not you're actually the only student I've ever had who noticed that straight off the bat," Kakashi nodded in approval. "And to answer your question, well that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one will immediately go back to the academy."

We all gasped but he just continued calmly.

"Then again, all three of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, then you're not going to be able to take the bells." Kakashi bounded the bells into his palm once again before closing his fingers around them.

"You'll lose! Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser from yesterday," Naruto laughed easily.

"Be quiet idiot," I whispered to him. He really doesn't know how scary Kakashi can be when it comes to training. Naruto wasn't fazed by my warning though due to the fact that Kakashi was staring at him with a blank expression.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, to be honest. Lowest scores; losers; dead lasts," Kakashi said, annoying Naruto. "When I say start, you can begin."

Naruto, riled up completely from the previous comments thrown at him, growled and grabbed a kunai, swinging it around his finger. He got a good grip on it and ran passed Sasuke and I, charging straight at Kakashi.

"Wait! Naruto!" I quickly called out to him.

He ignored me.

Just as he was about to lunge at the Jounin, his hand and head were both grabbed, the kunai he was holding now to his neck while still in his own hand.

"Calm down," Kakashi lectured. "I didn't even say _start _yet."

Sasuke stood in shock as Kakashi let the blonde go. I walked over to Naruto and roughly grabbed his arm, giving him a small lecture about being patient before attacking. In all honestly though, Kakashi had done the exact same thing to me the first few times I had trained with him. He had said by insulting me it would help me control my emotions in a battle. I guess he's applying the same thing to Naruto now.

Kakashi spoke and, for once, directed a genuine smile at us. "_But_, you came at me with the full intention of killing me so…how can I say this? I'm actually starting to _like _you guys. Get ready though." We got into positions to move. "And now…start!"

Blurs ran past my vision as we all jumped off into a hiding spot of our own, each waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.

Well…at least, Sasuke and I did.

* * *

"A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide," Kakashi said out loud.

He had attached the bells to his waist, making it harder to get them without him noticing they were gone. He glanced around, most likely checking to see where we all were and I had no doubt that he knew our exact locations.

I don't know where Sasuke had gone but I had crouched down to hide under a bunch of bushes. Naruto, who I believe to be even more of an idiot now, was out in the open standing right in-front of our opponent.

"You and me! Right now! Fair and square! Let's go!" Naruto bellowed out the challenge.

"Baka", I mumbled as I rolled my eyes. He really is clueless as to how strong Kakashi can really be. I've only seen his true power once and still have shudders thinking about it.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit…weird," Kakashi informed the blonde with his 'you-can't-be-serious' look.

"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut," Naruto retorted without grace.

He then charged at the man, again, with a war cry. I looked and saw Kakashi reach into his back pouch. Thank Kami-sama that Naruto had noticed this action and stopped abruptly.

"Shinobi battle techniques. Part one; Taijutsu. The physical art," Kakashi recited to him.

_Taijutsu…that's hand-to-hand combat. Then why is he reaching for a weapon? _

I pondered this to myself before finally seeing what Kakashi was reaching into his back pouch for. I sweat-dropped and shook my head, mentally scolding myself for not figuring it out earlier. Naruto on the other hand was clueless.

Kakashi pulled his hand out of his pouch and an orange book came out with it. He opened the book and held it in front of him. Just the sight of that book and the way he'd taunt me with it got my blood boiling. I always swore to myself that I'd make him watch me burn it to ashes one day. Hopefully that day came soon.

"What the…?" Naruto asked, completely confused.

"What're you waiting for? Make your move," Kakashi told him, not taking his eyes off of the book. Yup, he's taunting again, but this time I'm not the victim.

"But…Hey! What's with the book?!"

"I just want to know what happens next. But, don't worry, it won't make a difference with you guys."

"I'll kick your ass!" Naruto began charging again with his fist ready to swing round and punch the man in the face. He kicked off from the ground and aimed a high punch at Kakashi's jaw from behind, only to be blocked by a single hand. Kakashi didn't move any part of his body other than his arm to do it as he continued to read. Not giving up yet, Naruto kicked off again and tried to kick the silver-haired man in the stomach, but Kakashi ducked. "Now you're mine!"

With an opening spotted, Naruto aimed a punch at Kakashi's head, only to stop when he noticed that Kakashi was no longer in front of him.

_Crap, I didn't even see that he had moved. How am I ever going to get a bell?_

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time," Kakashi scolded lightly as he appeared behind Naruto, his hands together with his index and middle fingers pointed up. His book was in-between his palms as he remained crouched on the ground.

My eye's narrowed. _What? His hand position? Is that the tiger seal? No way! He's going to use a Jutsu against Naruto. What is that geezer thinking?!_

Not really knowing what else to do, I lifted myself up and quickly dashed my way towards Naruto. The bells were pushed far from my mind and all that seemed to take its place was my over-protectiveness for the blonde.

"Naruto! Run away!" I shouted.

"To late," Kakashi yelled with an evil glint in his eye. "Leaf village secret Taijutsu finger Jutsu!" His hand raised as he poked Naruto in the butt; hard. "A thousand years on pain!"

Naruto was sent flying, holding onto his rear-end.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed bloody murder as he landed into a near-by river with a 'splash'. My eyebrow twitched in irritation as a blush stained my cheeks. Is this seriously who's supposed to help me grow as a ninja?

"Two idiots," I muttered.

It was at that moment that I noticed that Kakashi had suddenly disappeared...and I was out in the open.

_Shit! I'm a sitting duck out here!_

A barrage of shurikens suddenly came flying at me. I quickly jumped to the side and managed to dodge them. Unfortunately, I did not notice the kunai flying at me from behind until I turned around. My arms went up in defense since I had no time to move, but I felt arms wrap around me and lift me up into the trees.

I looked to see Sasuke, glaring at Kakashi who stood on the open field continuing to read his book nonchalantly.

We both stood silent, waiting to see if Kakashi will show any indication that he knew where we were, but he just continued to read. I relaxed my body a bit and realized that Sasuke still had one arm around me. I cleared my throat and he looked at me as though suddenly realizing that I was there before removing his arm.

The atmosphere around us turned so awkward that I wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi could sense it.

"Thanks," I whispered, but it sounded more like a growl than a show of gratitude. Well, I didn't exactly like the idea of Sasuke having to save me.

He didn't seem to notice my tone and only nodded before putting all of his attention back to Kakashi.

…**.**

…**.**

Naruto coughed and gasped greedily for air when he re-surfaced from the river. He crawled out of the water slowly, his clothing slightly heavier than before due to the water-weight. Kakashi looked down at him with mild interest and respect for his determination to never give up, but still believed that his efforts were in vain.

"What's wrong?" he asked mockingly. "You won't get any lunch if you don't get a bell by noon." Naruto gasped one final time before looking up at Kakashi with wet blonde hair sticking to his headband.

"I already know that, damn it!"

"You said you're going to exceed the Hokage's, but your actions say otherwise," Kakashi continued to taunt. Naruto was about to retort, but his stomach growled as if to help him find another excuse.

"Damn it! Damn it! I can still fight, even if I'm hungry!" Naruto pronounced loudly and falsely. In the tree, Sasuke blushed mildly as his stomach also let out a loud moan of protest, begging for food. Sakura also heard her stomach groan for food and frowned. Kakashi began to walk away from the shouting blonde. "I was just off guard a while ago! Damn it. I'm hungry. My powers are so…" Another rumble of his stomach.

Naruto ignored his stomach as Sakura's face flashed past his minds eye. He recalled what he had done in order to graduate and become a ninja with her and his chest swelled with a new-found determination.

"I have to get one of those bells. No matter what! I can't…I can't fail at a place like this. Not now that I've come so far. Believe it," he promised himself. "I'm going to become a ninja! A great ninja for Sakura-chan!"

Kakashi turned and looked –in mild shock- at the barrage of seven Naruto clones plus the original, making it eight. The clones all jumped thought the air in his direction, but he seemed to remain perfectly calm. Naruto, believing that explaining himself is more important than actually getting a bell, yelled to the man.

"This is my best technique! The Kage Bunshin No Jutsu! Believe it!" he screamed as he and the clones all jumped towards Kakashi for an attack.

The Naruto's landed and began charging, creating watery footprints where they trod on their way. Sasuke could only look on in absolute amazement of the technique while Sakura smirked, pleased that her friend was able to get such an expression on the Uchiha.

Kakashi turned to the clones with no shock apparent on his features, obviously not really caring either way, but when he saw the water trail left by every last Naruto he became slightly impressed. "A real Kage Bunshin No Jutsu rather than just a regular Bunshin No Jutsu. It must be the forbidden technique he used to beat Mizuki. The one I've heard so much about," Kakashi muttered, looking at all of the clones with one lazy eye. "Assuming from his abilities, he can only hold that Jutsu for around a minuet or so." He saw the clones speeding up slightly. "Even if he starts talking big, Naruto is still Naruto, after all. He can't get me with that technique."

Kakashi, full of confidence, heard the bells jingle as he was caught from behind by one of the Naruto clones. The clone held tight around the older man's chest and eventually worked a way to hold Kakashi's arms and legs from moving. _What?! From behind?! _Kakashi thought, now fully alert and paying attention to the battle.

Sasuke looked in shock as Naruto caught Kakashi and Sakura smiled in pride for the blonde. Kakashi was still shocked as he turned his head to see the clone, who chuckled as he held tighter so that the Jounin couldn't move as properly and fluidly as before.

"A ninja shouldn't ever let the enemy get behind him during battle, right Kakashi-sensei?" The Naruto clone mocked the man's previous words. All of the Naruto's soon took a hold of his arms and legs as one tried to hit him from above. "I used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…then let one sneak out from the lower part of the river and attack you from behind. You're going to pay for that attack on my butt!"

_Great job Naruto_, Sakura thought as she watched Naruto attack their sensei.

_A feint operation, huh? _Sasuke mused with a smirk as he watched Naruto's plan follow through.

"I'm going to punch you!" Naruto declared loudly to Kakashi as he came in for the attack. The hit landed and all of the Naruto clones holding Kakashi flew back with the force. Of course, the one he hit also happened to look like the blonde, orange wearing ninja."Huh?" Naruto was confused as to what he had hit.

_Nice try_, Sakura thought, silently giggling at his attempts. _That's Kakashi for you._

Sasuke just looked unimpressed and rather bored, not believing that he almost had a drop of awe in Naruto's thought-out moves.

"Ouch!" The Naruto he hit wailed as he fell to the ground, the other Naruto still holding his arms from moving.

"You must be Kakashi-sensei! You transformed, didn't you?!" Naruto declared loudly.

Him and all of his clones began arguing about who was Kakashi in disguise, none even thinking of the obvious way to find out who it was. They yelled random things to each other as insults, hoping to catch out Kakashi. The hits got fiercer as the insults flew, but Kakashi was still no where to be found and the clones remained looking like Naruto.

"You must be Kakashi-sensei!"

"You smell like Kakashi-sensei!"

"It is the smell of an old man!"

The clones, and the original, began attacking each other with punches and kicks.

"Hey, why don't we undo the Jutsu?" one smarter clone asked, punching his copy in the face.

"Then, only two will remain and we'll know who it is!" another confirmed, catching onto the thought.

"Why didn't you notice that, idiot?" a third questioned as he was held by the collar, about to receive a hit in the nose.

"You're me, idiot!" the one holding him replied angrily, giving him the hit for good measure.

"I'm going to undo it now!" Naruto –the original- declared as puffs of smoke began to appear around the clones.

The clones were gone and Naruto stood in the middle of the clearing alone, no Kakashi or Henge, to look like Naruto, in sight. He stood alone, bumps and bruises covering his now red face. Obviously the clones weren't the only ones to receive a hit and Naruto got a fair few as well, even though it was impossible for him to be Kakashi…right?

_It was a replacement Jutsu, idiot_, Sasuke thought, scolding his team mate's idiocy. _It is the technique where the user quickly trades place with an inanimate object, animal or something else to confuse the enemy into thinking they were hit. Then you are able to attack the enemies unguarded point, when they are vulnerable from the surprise. In this case, Kakashi-sensei replaced himself with a clone as he watched._

Naruto, not knowing that Sasuke was busy with his mental monologue in the tree, spotted something when the sun glinted off of it."A bell?! He must have been in a hurry if he dropped a bell."

Naruto grinned like an idiot at the thought of taking a bell so easily. However -just as he was about to make a grab for the shiny, round jangler- he found himself being pulled upwards by a rope around both of his ankles. He flew up the tree and bounced on the rope a few times before becoming still.

_It was a trap_, Sasuke thought. _That Jounin showed no unguarded point, even when he was fighting Naruto._

"The bell!" Naruto cried out as he kept making grabs for the bell. A gloved hand took the bell from under him and held it out mockingly. Kakashi stood up and lifted the bell into Naruto's line of sight before smiling in a taunting way and let it jingle as it bounced up and down on its string.

"Use your techniques only after thinking carefully," Kakashi warned him in a careless tone. "That's why I was able to use it to your disadvantage just a minute ago. And…don't fall for an obvious trap, stupid."

"EH?! WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Naruto cried in an outrage.

"…idiot," Sakura muttered as Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Ninjas need to think beyond the normal. You know what I mean, don't you? Think underneath the underneath."

"I get it!" Naruto yelled angrily.

"I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?" he said as Naruto's outraged expression was replaced with one of confusion. Sasuke's eyes widened from his branch as he noticed the drop in guard. "Your movements are filled to the brim with unnecessary motions," Kakashi continued, as if he didn't know what was going on with Sasuke.

_This is my chance! _Sasuke thought as he grabbed a few kunai and shuriken. He threw them all at Kakashi with the intent to kill the cocky sensei in one attack. The weapons spun as they flew in an arch and closed in on Kakashi with impressive speed for a rookie ninja.

"You're so…oh-?" Kakashi was cut off from his scolding as all of the sharp weapons hit, sending the man to the ground.

"Ah! No way!" Naruto cried as he watched the weapons dig into Kakashi's flesh. "Sasuke you bastard! You went to far!"

Sasuke watched, without care for Naruto's panic, as he hit his target and Kakashi went down. However, his calm gaze turned to shock as the body of his fallen sensei was enveloped in smoke and, when the smoke vanished, he saw that his weapons were now lodged in a log.

"Uchiha!" Sakura called out. "He knows where we are now. We got to move, fast!"

Both Genin's nodded to each other and set off in opposite directions.


	5. Chapter 4: The Bell Test(Part2)

**So...I actually finished this chapter a while ago but I, for some reason, forgot to upload it. Hehe, sorry. **

**Either way, enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

_Where are those two? Did Kakashi get Sasuke? No doubt he did_, I thought as my feet leaped from branch to branch. _No…Uchiha's not that stupid, as much as I hate to admit it._

Kakashi's chakra suddenly got into sensing range and I ducked behind a bush for cover. He was standing in a clearing, reading his perverted book, but my previous years of training with the geezer kept me cautious.

_What's he up to?_

"Ichigo, behind you," a voice suddenly said. I swiftly turned around only to be face-to-face with Kakashi. Crap.

…**.**

…**.**

Naruto, who was still caught in the trap, squirmed around helplessly.

"Ninja's need to think underneath the underneath? Damn it! I'm never going to fall for one of his traps again!" Naruto promised himself as he cut the rope with his own kunai and flipped down to land on the ground safely and without a scratch.

When his task was done, he grinned, only to find himself caught in another trap. "I FELL FOR IT AGAIN?!"

…**.**

…**.**

Giving me absolutely no time to react, Kakashi placed his hands in the form of a ram and my entire body was suddenly engulfed in a tornado of leaves with no escape. My mind felt hazy and I tried to shake it off but the fogginess was too much and it took all I had not to fall over. When it all cleared, I found myself standing alone in a clearing, which had darkened slightly somehow.

"Where is everyone?" I spoke out loud. "Where did that geezer go?"

_Damn it, this must be one of Kakashi's tricks. Just have to figure out what he plans to do. _

"Sakura…"

A strained male voice suddenly called to me from behind. My ears perked and I recognized it as Sasuke's.

I turned around and gasped at the sight before me.

Sasuke, as I had guessed, was behind me. However, he had kunai digging into his flesh and blood oozing out of the wounds. Weak and at a loss of blood, the Uchiha was using a tree trunk to keep him from collapsing completely.

"S-Sakura…h-help me," Sasuke begged, blood streaming out of his mouth and over his shirt as he coughed violently.

My body froze.

I felt numb and in my mind I knew this was a trick, a Genjutsu even. But for some reason, I couldn't will myself to dispel it. I felt as though my mind had detached itself from my body. I don't know if its the gruesome sight or the fact that it was Sasuke, who was currently reaching out a crimson stained hand out to me, that was hurt. Hell, it could've been both.

All I knew was that the sight ignited something in my mind. Something that it was trying hard to push far, far away. I reached a hand out, trying to catch whatever was going. But I couldn't and I wondered if I ever would.

Just as the memory was there, it was gone and I blacked out.

…**.**

…**.**

"I think I over did it, a bit…," Kakashi mumbled to himself as he witnessed Sakura fall to the ground.

In all honesty, he was trying hard not to go over and help her, but he knew he couldn't. She had to toughen out these kind of situations. After all, she would be dealing with a lot of them when she began going on missions.

But that didn't stop him from feeling just a hint of guilt at the illusion he decided to use on her. He made a decision to apologize after the test.

"Shinobi battle techniques. Part two; Genjutsu. The illusion Jutsu," Kakashi continued. "Sakura studied it in class but she still couldn't see it coming."

From his position in front of him, still unnoticed though, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at what Kakashi had just said. _A Genjutsu technique, huh? Illusionary mind-control. I'm actually a little surprised that she fell for it._

"But…I'm different from the other two," Sasuke thought out loud with a minor glare shown in his eyes.

"Why don't you say that _after _you get a bell? Sasuke-_kun_?" Kakashi questioned mockingly from his new place behind the frowning boy, still reading that book. Sasuke turned to face him and ignored the taunting suffix the man added to the end of his name, like he was impersonating a fan-girl. The Uchiha moved fast and took out three shuriken, throwing them quickly at Kakashi.

His sensei dodged easily.

"There's no use in just using normal attacks," Kakashi scolded. Sasuke smirked and threw a kunai in the air, cutting a rope above him as it went upwards."A trap?" He dodged, letting the eleven kunai hit the tree behind him instead of his body. As he skidded to a stop, Sasuke appeared behind him.

Sasuke aimed a kick at the side of his sensei's head, but Kakashi still managed to block it with his arm, despite the speed of the attack. He grabbed Sasuke's ankle and held it firmly in place as the Uchiha twisted his body around to punch Kakashi. His fist was caught so he carried on, twisting his body more to kick Kakashi's head with his free foot. To block this, Kakashi had to release Sasuke's fist and hold his arm above his head, letting his forearm take the bulk of the hit.

The bells jingled and Sasuke smirked as he reached up to grab one, but Kakashi noticed his plan too soon. So, as Sasuke's fingers grazed across the small silver ball, Kakashi released him and jumped back a bit with a curse muttered under his breath. Sasuke flipped over and landed on his feet, breathing rather heavily, as Kakashi skidded to a halt.

_What a guy. I don't even have time to read Icha-Icha Paradise with him attacking me. _

Kakashi prepared for another defense or block, even resorting to dodging with the powerful blows.

…**.**

…**.**

My eyes fluttered open as I began to regain consciousness.

I blinked against the harsh light that enveloped the once darken clearing and sat up, a little too fast, and placed a hand on my throbbing head. I wondered what happened when reality suddenly struck me like a ton of bricks.

"Sasuke!" I gasped, looking frantically around for any sign of him. "He was on the verge of...!"

My words caught in my throat as my brain finally began to function properly and I wanted nothing more at the moment than to kill my new _sensei._

_Damn it, Kakashi! That was a dirty trick! _

With a new fond determination, I set off in a hunt for the geezer with boiling rage.

…**.**

…**.**

"I'll admit that you're different from the other two," Kakashi said as he acknowledged Sasuke's ability with an indifferent look. Sasuke smirked and began to do a series of quick hand seals.

"Katon Goukakyuu No Jutsu," Sasuke stated, taking in a deep breath and going into a stance.

He then blew out great waves of fire, forming a pit in the ground by melting away most of the earth due to the intense flames. He was able to hold the Jutsu long enough to that it would have burned the victim to a crisp and then burned away the ashes before letting go of the Jutsu. The fire soon cleared without the chakra to hold it and Sasuke saw that no one was there.

"He's gone!" he said in utter shock. "Is he behind me?" He began looking around. "No…above? Not there either. Where is he?"

"Where?!" Kakashi roared as his arm came up from under the earth and grabbed Sasuke's ankle. Said Uchiha looked down at the hand holding him in place.

"How-?"

"Doton Shinjuuzanshu No Jutsu!"

Sasuke was then dragged down.

Kakashi rose from the ground and stood in front of the boy. Sasuke had been pulled under enough that his head and part of his neck were the only things above ground. Usually he pulled the enemy under completely, allowing them to suffocate, but that would have been a bit too much.

"Shinobi battle techniques. Part three; Ninjutsu," Kakashi informed him as he crouched down. "How is it? Can't move, right?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he looked away.

"You were right. You are different from the other but…," He started as he rose to his feet. "Different isn't always better. They say the nail that sticks up, is the one that gets hammered down."

With that said, Kakashi took out his book again and began flipping to his page.

Sasuke growled and cried out, "Damn it!"

…**.**

…**.**

My eyes finally caught sight of a path up ahead and I jumped out from the trees.

I knew my face showed the killing intent I had for Kakashi but I didn't do anything to withdraw it like I normally do. I looked around, hoping to catch sight of a mess of silver hair but froze, seeing something else. Something that completely took me off guard.

Sasuke's head sticking out of the ground like a weed.

"Sakura," he said in mild surprise at seeing me. He looked as though he was about to say something else when I couldn't hold it in any longer and I burst out into a hysterical laugh.

"Haha! Kakashi got you good!" I said into between laughs as tears started to gather in my eyes. The blush and embarrassed expression that supported Sasuke's face just made the whole thing even funnier.

"Can you just get me out of here!" Sasuke yelled in annoyance, but I still had more laughs to let out.

"What so funny, Sakura?"

I yelped, which was embarrassing, and turned around, only to come face-to-face with Kakashi. Wasting no time, I did a back-flip to put a little distance between me and Kakashi and got into a fighting stance.

"I was wondering when you'd come out of hiding," he said with a smile.

I narrowed my eyes angrily. "I'm not hiding anymore! Let's go! You and me!"

"As I said before, you're sounding more like Naruto each day."

I swiftly grabbed a kunai from my pouch and launched it at Kakashi. However, he easily caught it in-between his fingers and sent it right back. To retaliate, I turned to the side to dodge it and began running around him at a fast pace. My vision blurred as my speed picked up, but I could still slightly see the confused expressions on Sasuke and Kakashi's faces.

That got a smirk out of me.

What both guys didn't notice was the chakra gathering in my feet. Using that chakra, I controlled all the dust and dirt to circle around Kakashi just as I did. Soon enough, Kakashi was trapped in a dust tornado. I continued this action, while, at the same time, thinking of an idea on how to get those bells.

An idea then struck and my hand reached and grabbed a numerous amount of kunai's. I began throwing each of them all around Kakashi.

He was again confused by my actions and seemed to be taking a further inspection of the kunai's I continued to throw; each one of them had a cherry blossom attached to it. I came to a halt and the dust began to clear. Once it completely vanished, Kakashi looked around to see many kunai's surrounding him with cherry blossoms attached to them. He then looked over to me and I took satisfaction at the shocked expression on his face.

He didn't know I made and have been practicing this Justsu for about a month now.

Holding one last kunai with a smirk, Kakashi's eyes widened when he noticed that I had an exploding tag attached to it. He then took another look at the kunai's with cherry blossoms attached to it and seemed to find that they were, in fact, bags of exploding tags disguised as cherry blossom petals to help camouflage the tags.

"Sakura Fubuki No Jutsu!" I threw the last kunai and it caused all the other ones to ignite.

I squinted my eyes against the harsh light of the explosion. Once it cleared up, I saw Sasuke's shocked face mirror my own as we realized that our sensei had disappeared once again. A whole month it took me to get that Jutsu together...and Kakashi didn't even need to flinch to dodge it.

"Damn it!" I cried in frustration.

"Good job Sakura." I glared at Kakashi, who was leaning against a near-by tree with his arms crossed. "But not good enough. Now, be a good girl and help Sasuke out of the ground, would you?"

Without even giving me time to answer, he vanished out-of-thin-air.

"Damn you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Huh, seems like I'm able to call him that when I'm mad...

Well, I guess I'm not really that surprised that Kakashi wasn't affected by my Jutsu. I mean, he is a Jounin after all. I let out a big and loud sigh and took a step towards Sasuke, deciding to help him get out of the ground. But that one step seemed to be all my body was able to do as I suddenly felt extremely exhausted and my vision began to sway.

_Crap, must have have used to much chakra…_

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

Sasuke's voice was the last thing I heard as I keeled over and hit the ground with a 'thud'.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, my vision was a little phased and unclear, but better. I guess fainting helps with chakra-exhaustion.

The double image swayed for a while but eyes eventually went back to normal. I blinked a few times and realized that someone was hovering over me. I sat up and saw that it was Sasuke, who had somehow managed to get himself out from under the ground.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah." I nodded and the fact that the movement didn't give me a headache showed that I was fine. He nodded as well and stood up. I was about to do the same when a hand suddenly appeared and I looked up to see that it was Sasuke's hand. Okay, that was a bit out of character for him. For some reason, this gesture brought anger out of me. The fact that I had to be hurt for him to give me any kind of concerned attention made my blood boil and I couldn't help but have my next words come out as a scowl. "I don't need your help getting up Uchiha."

He looked offended, even a bit hurt, before anger took over. "Fine. There's still a little time left until noon. I'm going, since you seem to be well enough to brush off someone's concern."

Guilt was replaced by all the irritation I had felt and I tried to think of a proper apology as I stood up and dusted myself off. Honestly though, I could not think of what to say so I decided to get the topic back on the test.

"You're still going after the bell?" I asked.

"I was able to touch it a while ago. I'll get it next time," Sasuke replied.

"You managed to touch the bell? Really?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

I ignored his question and tugged at my hair. Did the fact that Sasuke was able to touch a bell from Kakashi while I couldn't even lay a hand on him show our difference in power? Is Sasuke really that much stronger than me, despite the fact that I had trained with Kakashi since I was little?

"That was impressive."

It took me a moment to realize that Sasuke had spoken and even then I had to make sure because of the question he had asked. "What?"

He turned his face away and seemed to be uncomfortable. "That Jutsu...did you come up with it on your own?"

I blinked at him. Wow, are we actually having a normal conversation? That's new and I definitely don't want to miss this chance. "Uh, yea. I was reading a book on weapons and wondered if there was a way to conceal exploding tags, so I came up with the cherry blossoms. The one I did with Kakashi was just a smaller version of it though since I didn't have much kunai's and I couldn't fit too many bombs into my pouch. Trust me, that explosion could have been a whole lot bigger. I can tell you it wasn't easy getting-"

I stopped, realizing that I was rambling and blushed when I caught sight of Sasuke's smirk. To my surprise, it wasn't a cocky smirk, but one of amusement, like he was enjoying my stream of chatter. He then did something that almost took my breath away.

He laughed.

Sasuke was laughing at me, but not in the usual mean-way. No, in a way a friend would laugh at another friend when they did something funny. It...it was nice, calming to listen to even. The atmosphere around us suddenly changed. It was familiar. I haven't felt this kind of comfort around him since...

The sound of an alarm suddenly discharged throughout the forest, signaling that our time was up.

Just like that, Sasuke's demeanor returned to its original state; scowl and all. "Damn it, I wasted my time talking," he grunted.

He then walked off, leaving me to glare at his retreating back.

_Baka._

* * *

Naruto was currently tied to a post while Sasuke and I sat on either side of him. We were all tired and starving and the one to blame for that stood across from us with a gloating aura surrounding him.

"Your stomachs are growling, eh?" Kakashi taunted. Bastard. "By the way…about the results of this little training exercise; there's no need for any of you to return to the ninja academy."

The words seemed to perk up Naruto, but the Uchiha seemed to be as wary of our sensei's motives as I was.

"Does that mean…we three…?" Naruto trailed off, dancing with his feet and grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes…you three…are being dropped from the program, permanently!"

Naruto's celebration quickly died down and I gasped. Drop us from the program? But that means we'll never become ninja's!

"Drop us from the program?! That means we can never become ninja!" Naruto exclaimed, as though reading my thoughts. "You said that if we didn't get a bell, then we would be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out, why would you do that?!"

"Because you don't think like ninja you think like little kids, like brats," Kakashi said without regret. I flinched, having never seen him so disappointed and strict before. I guess normal-Kakashi and sensei-Kakashi were two completely different people.

Suddenly, I saw a blur run past me from the corner of my eye and the next second Kakashi was casually sitting on top of Sasuke, as if he were a sofa. His foot rested on the Uchiha's head and he held Sasuke's arm behind his back.

"Kakashi, what're you doing?!" I called out, not believing the humiliation he was putting Sasuke in. Kakashi glanced up at me and I was taken aback at the seriousness in his eyes as they bore into mine. Is that really him...?

"You think it's all about you," Kakashi said with a sigh. "You don't know what it means to be a ninja." He seemed to suddenly be directing his attention to me, although the other two were oblivious to this fact. "You think it's a game, huh? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you think about that question for a moment?"

"W-what do you mean?" Naruto nervously asked.

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about. Not even close."

_He's testing us. He wants us to say something, but what? Come on Kakashi, stop being so vague!_

"Come on, use your heads. Three people on a squad, why do you think we would do that?"

His words stirred a memory.

I bit down on my bottom lip hard, trying to remember it clearly.

* * *

"_Come on Ichigo, use your head!" Kakashi lectured. The ten-year-old girl was currently struggling to get out of the ground, but only her head remained above. To say she was embarrassed was an understatement._

"_I don't know!" Sakura cried out, fed up with all the vague questions coming out of his mouth. "Let me out of here, geezer! I don't know the answer!"_

_He narrowed his eyes. "It's a simple question: Why weren't you able to take my book from me?"_

"_Cause you're a lot stronger than me!"_

"_Nope, wrong answer." He shook his head and sighed, watching the girl continue to struggle. "It's alright." Sakura paused her movements, confused by his sudden change in attitude. Kakashi smiled down at her and patted the top of her head. "You'll understand this lesson better when you're older, trust me."_

* * *

I gasped and Kakashi seemed to know just exactly what I was thinking about. I looked at him with confident eyes and said, "Teamwork! You're talking about teamwork! If we had come at you all at once, we would've been able to take the bells."

His eyes flashed with approval before turning serious once again. Naruto and Sasuke seemed shocked by my answer.

"Exactly, you guys just needed to work together. One person alone is not nearly as strong as a whole group fighting together. But it's too late now, it's over," Kakashi angrily pointed out.

"But you set it up with two bells!" I quickly pointed out, mad that he hadn't explained this to me the first time we did an exercise similar to this one. "So if we all attacked together and got them, only two of us could keep them. That would lead to group conflict and the whole squad would break up."

"Exactly, I purposely pitted you against each other to see if you could overcome that. A Genin should have a natural feel for teamwork, but it _never_ even crossed your mind."

My eyes shifted to the ground, disappointment filling in my chest. So that's what he wanted to teach me before; to not only rely on my own strength. _Teamwork..._

"Sakura!" Kakashi called out sharply, quickly bringing me back to reality. "You were too swept up in your anger and cared more about fighting me than your own teammates." He shifted his gaze to Naruto and the blonde cringed back against the post. "Naruto! All you did was work on your own! And you," Kakashi spoke directly to Sasuke, pausing to press his foot down harder on the Uchiha's head. With his face pressed against the ground, Sasuke squinted his eyes shut, probably praying that our sensei would get off him soon. "You assumed that those two were only going to burden you and did everything yourself.

Missions are done in groups. On a mission, teamwork is more important than ninja skills alone. One person's action that disrupts teamwork will result in danger or even the death of his or her team mates, or worst, torture. For example...", He swiftly took out a kunai and held it to Sasuke's throat. "Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke will die!"

"W-What?!" Naruto yelled while sweating bullets and looking frantically back and forth from Sasuke and I. My hand began to tremble as the image of Sasuke's body covered in kunai's came rushing back. Thankfully, he removed the kunai, seeming unsurprised by our reactions. Sasuke sighed in relief.

"That's what happens on a mission," Kakashi continued. "The enemy takes a hostage and you are forced to make an impossible decision…someone ends up dead."

Finally, he got off of Sasuke and walking back slightly. Sasuke only glared at the ground while I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. He acted as though he was unaffected by what just happened but even I saw saw the nervous twitch that suddenly came over his hands. He noticed my gaze and quickly stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Look at this," Kakashi ordered to us, walking over to a stone tablet that stood behind him. "There are many names carved onto this stone. All those names are people who are praised as heroes in this village."

"I like that! I like that! Believe it!" Naruto yelled. "I've decided that I'm going to have my name carved into that!"

I wanted to tell the blonde to quickly be quiet, but found that I couldn't find my voice. I know all about that stone tablet and the names carved into them. After all, I have followed Kakashi here many times before...

"Naruto...," I mumbled and even I could hear the sadness etched into my tone. "They aren't just normal heroes…"

"Oh, yeah? Then what kind are they?"

I clenched my hands into tight fists before replying. "They are all heroes who died while on duty." I watched as realization slowly reached Naruto. His face saddened and he looked down at the ground.

"My best friend's name is also carved here…," Kakashi confessed, looking sorrowfully at the stone. "This is a memorial…"

I've never heard the story of what happened to his best friend, and I've asked Kakashi many times before. But each time he would just smile at me sadly and say that that was a story for another day. Either way, the reality of what it means to be a ninja was harsh and the atmosphere around Naruto, Sasuke and I was thick and heavy.

"I'll give you one more chance," he suddenly said, sighing. "However, the battle for the bell will be much harder after lunch. Eat up, if you are up to the challenge. But, Naruto isn't allowed food. Feed him and you fail."

With that said, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Sasuke was eating his lunch, quickly but politely. I, on the other hand, just pushed my food around a bit. At first I was hungry, but a few bites later and my appetite was lost. The reason? Naruto's stomach was growling loudly and I felt guilty for eating when he couldn't

"I'm okay! Even if I don't eat!" he claimed as his stomach let out another contradicting moan of protest. I sighed and then held up my bento box to his face. I picked up a piece of rice with my chopsticks and lifted it up to his mouth.

"S-Sakura-chan," Naruto said as his eyes grew teary at my gesture. I smiled at him. "Thanks. But…what about you?"

"Don't worry," I assured. "I don't eat as much as you do."

"But I-" Naruto was cut off from his words when Sasuke grabbed my hand and plunged the rice into his mouth, rather roughly might I add. I was surprised by his actions but didn't question it. Besides, his hand felt warm wrapped around mine and I definitely wasn't going to question that. "Why did you guys…?"

"If you're hungry, then you're a set back. You'd just hold us back," Sasuke stated coldly. But I knew that this was just his way of being kind. He never was openly affectionate with his feelings. I laughed at this and his cheeks went a little red.

…**.**

…**.**

Unknown by the three Genin, Kakashi was observing the whole thing from behind a tree.

…**.**

…**.**

"Thanks you guys," Naruto said happily.

"Don't thank us," Sasuke said, using my hand, that he still held onto, and picked up more rice for Naruto.

"Just eat," I finished as Sasuke shoved the rice in his face again.

A massive cloud of smoke appeared, changing the weather from sunny to storming in less than a second. Kakashi stood in the center of the storm, since he seemed to be the one to have conjured it, with an evil look on his face. He appeared to be angry, very angry in fact.

"You three!" he yelled heatedly. Naruto and I screamed in fear. What the hell?! I've never seen him this violent and angry before! Was it really that bad that we fed Naruto?! "You three broke the rules. Are you prepared for the punishment?"

"B-B-B-But…," Naruto stuttered, yelling out random nonsense. "But…But…But…You said…! That's why these two…!"

"We're a three man squad." I was surprised, actually shocked, that Sasuke spoke up, aiding Naruto in his excuse of why we did what we did. He glanced at me and nodded, to which I responded with a nod of my own.

"As a three man squad, we wouldn't have functioned properly as a team if Naruto was hungry!" I yelled, feeling confidence begin to overcome the fear. "He would have been slower and it could have gotten us into a dangerous situation!"

"Yeah! Believe it!" Naruto added, not being able to help himself in any other way.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked, getting closer to us menacingly.

"Yeah!" Us three answered confidently.

"Then…you pass!"

He beamed at us from under his mask and the storm faded away, revealing sunny skies again. We all paused and didn't move, not really sure what to do. Naruto and I were confused by his words while Sasuke seemed to be on his guard, probably thinking that this was another trick or test.

"Pass?" he asked. "What do you mean we pass? We broke the rules."

"You pass…you're the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves," Kakashi explained with much approval in his voice. "A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, yes. But…those who betray their friends are worst than scum. You've just proven yourselves worthy of the title ninja."

I still didn't move and in all honestly, I really couldn't. Naruto on the other hand began to cheer.

"Yeah! I did it! I did it! I'm a ninja! Ninja! Ninja!" he sang happily.

So...we passed.

I'm officially a ninja as of now. That's...so...AMAZING!

Without really thinking, I ran straight into Kakashi and wrapped my arms around him. His body shook as he laughed."The exercise is over. Everyone passes. Squad seven starts its first mission tomorrow." I heard him say from above my head. I then felt his hair ruffle my hair affectionately as he spoke in a soft and gentle tone that only I could hear. "Great job, Sakura. I'm really proud of you."

I pulled back and wiped the moisture from my eyes. He cleared his throat, going back to his sensei-persona. "Alright everyone, let's go home."

Sasuke and I followed him, not even realizing that we were leaving Naruto tied to the post all alone.

"I _KNEW _it was going to end like this!" he complained. "UNTIE THE FREAKING ROPE!"


End file.
